Mountain Farm Museum Blacksmith Shop

This building was moved from the Gregory farm in Cades Cove, Tennessee. A Blacksmith shop was not always guaranteed on every farm, but many farmers learned how to do basic Blacksmith work so that they were able to repair small things around the farm. This was often time out of necessity since it was expensive and time consuming to visit a real Blacksmith to get something fixed. However, by having their own Blacksmith shop, a farm was able to heat iron when needed. Often the forge, anvil, and bellows used in the Blacksmith shop might not be used for a length of time due to the fact that it was not necessary all of the time. Many associate a Blacksmith shop with shoeing horses, however many amateur Blacksmith farmers did not use it for this purpose and instead used it to fix small tools on the property. Other items that were made by these farmers cum Blacksmiths were usually purely functional and were never ornamental. These farmers had to use what they had available to them to ensure that their farms ran smoothly. Additionally, since iron was a resource that was hard to come by it was recycled to fulfill the requirements of the farmer. That meant that a horseshoe might eventually be repurposed to be a door hinge. A mountain farmer had to constantly use their resources to the best of their ability to make sure their farm ran smoothly.

Tom Robbins, Mountain Farm Museum (Gatlinburg: Great Smoky Mountains Association), 10-11.