"Remember the Sabbath and get your horses shod on Saturday" proclaims a sign in the Shold Blacksmith Shop.
The village blacksmith was an indispensable part of the pioneer community. The smith could manufacture or repair just about any item made of iron or steel from hinges and bolts to wagon wheel tires and axes. In the early days of our country, the blacksmith was not the fellow that put shoes on your horse. That job belonged to the farrier.
The blacksmith worked with iron, the black metal, and to form it he would smite it with his hammer, hence the name blacksmith...iron hitter. As iron goods manufactured in large factories became more readily available, the smith's trade turned more and more to repair, and eventually to the shoeing of horses.
Fort Features
