![]() ![]() “The tools are usually pretty valuable, and a lot of times they just sell them off.” “There are only two other blacksmith shops in the country that have both the original building and the original tools,” Richardson said. But what makes the Eden shop unique is that it not only involves the original building, but also all of the original tools and equipment. Richardson points to a couple of other blacksmith shops in the state, most notably one in Cove Fort. “To be able to work in a shop like this, with all that history, is just fantastic,” he said. ![]() It’s been a dream-come-true for Richardson. In February 2015, Richardson began leasing the building from the owner and opened Ragnar Forge, a working blacksmith shop at, in Eden. He hired Richardson and another man to set it up as a working blacksmith shop. Once the building was restored, the owner wanted to have all the original equipment and tools moved back into it. By that point the building required extensive work, including repairs to the foundation, roof and chimneys. But about 12 years ago the current owner bought it in order to restore it. In the intervening decades the building changed hands a couple of times. “He just shut the doors and left the equipment - all the tools and everything,” Richardson said. Glen Wilbur then ran the shop for another 20 years, until his retirement in the early 1970s.Īfter that, the building fell into disrepair. He ran his shop and mechanic garage there until the early 1950s, when his son took over the business. The original blacksmith shop was built by J.M Wilbur in 1895. ![]()
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