Blacksmiths were essential to pioneer life. In 1983, the Pioneer Village Museum added the Blacksmith Shop to the grounds. The building was built by Herman Severson, Mel Jensen, and Bill Meiesegeier, Jr., with the help of the Green Thumb crew. This is a functioning smithy with a forge built by Alfred Koser and Mel Jensen.

The trip hammer, just north of the forge and belted with power, was an essential tool for sharpening plow shares, cultivator and harrow points, spring harrow teeth, road grader blades, and more. The shop's center features an emery wheel stand, a standard piece of equipment in a blacksmith shop. The abrasive wheel was either silicon carbide or aluminum oxide, usually of different hardness and grit size for different finishes. Next to the north wall is a water-cooled, three-horsepower Fuller-Johnson gas engine, belted and clutched to turn the lineshaft above, delivering power to the emery wheel stand and trip hammer.

At the left rear of the shop is a small forge standing on metal legs with a hand-operated air blower. These portable forges were used extensively in the pioneer days to shape horseshoes, make and repair harness chains, and repair sleds and wagons for farm and logging site use.

The left-hand door frame holds a hand-crank post drill used to drill holes of various sizes in wood and iron. The workbench to the left was the work area for making wagons, sleds, sleighs, wagon boxes, and other bench work. The embedded tool holder in the bench held forming tools. The post vice attached to the workbench is typical of all early blacksmith shops and was used to hold objects and to cut threads or tap internal threads.

Blacksmithing arrived in Wisconsin during the early fur trade era, as blacksmiths were essential to trading posts and forts. Company stores carried iron tools for trade and for use by explorers, and most of these were produced in a blacksmith belonging to the post or fort rather than being imported from overseas. As the exploration era gave way to pioneer settlement, the blacksmith remained essential to the development of early communities.

Basic necessities for building and survival were supplied by blacksmiths, including iron nails, hinges, axe heads, door locks and handles, and flint locks for guns. The smiths produced new items for sale and repaired damaged tools. Household goods were also produced, including spoons, sconces for candles, rifle barrels, and other iron household items.

Expansion away from trading hubs to the interior communities accelerated with treaty requirements that designated specific allotments for a blacksmith, blacksmith assistants, supplies, and materials to keep the blacksmith running to tribal members removed from their land to reservations.

As logging and agriculture took over the region during the 1880s and 1890s, blacksmiths remained essential. Logging equipment, including metal parts for sleds, sled runners, chains, and horse equipment were all produced by blacksmiths. They also worked in wagon repair, horse shoeing, repairing railroad equipment, and repairing locomotives. In larger communities, a blacksmith often was combined with or built next to adjacent services such as tin smithing, a wheelwright, machine shops, or other places where metal parts would need to be fabricated or repaired.

Blacksmiths remained critical components of their community until the period between 1940 and 1950, when they were increasingly replaced by welders, machinists, and other modern industrial trades. Hobbyists during the 1970s revitalized the skill of blacksmithing and led to a resurgence of the practice.

Berg, J. (2023, February 15). The Pioneer Blacksmith: Essential Tradesman of the Exploration and Industrial Frontier Eras [PowerPoint presentation via Zoom]. YouTube, Forest History Association of Wisconsin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOwu3tgQXEI

Jensen, Clarice. Kettner, Carol. Barron County Historical Society and Pioneer Museum History. Edition 2. Volume 1. Cameron, WI. Unpublished - Binder Bound in Museum Archives, 2018.

Manitowoc County Historical Society. (2024, April 29). Refining the old-time art of Blacksmithing. https://www.manitowoccountyhistory.org/mchs-blog/2022/6/15/refining-the-old-time-art-of-blacksmithing