Blacksmith Shop dedicated Oct. 24 at Glidden Homestead

Click here for the day's printed program --
it includes a THANK YOU to all who made this project possible

Blacksmithing demonstrations, music and "The Big Read" were all part of formal Blacksmith Shop dedication activities Oct. 24, at the Joseph F. Glidden Homestead & Historical Center in DeKalb.

"Music on the Porch" featured Dave "DK" Kolars and Pete Norman's "Old Time Country & Blues Revue." Kolars and Norman have been performing together since 2002. The audience tapped their toes as the duo played a wide range of  music on a variety of instruments, featuring blues, old timey folk, bluegrass, ‘30s and ‘40s pop, and “a lot of Pete's original songs."

Also, the DeKalb Public Library distributed The Call of the Wild as part of its "Big Read" event. To tie-in with The Call of the Wild, the Homestead created a special exhibit about Chase Glidden, who went to the Yukon to seek his fortune in the Gold Rush. Admission to the museum on Oct. 24, was free as part of The Big Read.

Several years of intense volunteer labor, with financial support from both local and state grants, culminated in the opening earlier this year of the working Blacksmith Shop at the Glidden Homestead and Historical Center. Past Glidden Homestead board president, Jim Morel, coordinated efforts to restore the Mill House for use as the Blacksmith Shop. At the dedication Oct. 24, he acknowledged the many volunteers who have worked hard the past three years on the project. He also helped unveil the new name for the shop -- The Phineas Vaughan Blacksmith Shop at Glidden Homestead.

Chris Hubbard is the head blacksmith. The Blacksmith Shop is located in the former Mill House behind the Homestead. Hubbard has been working with the Glidden board for a few years on plans to establish the Blacksmith Shop. Ultimately, he will give regularly scheduled demonstrations and offer classes there.

The Glidden Blacksmith shop is fully equipped with the tools of the blacksmithing trade. Attendees on Oct. 24, watch Hubbard and an apprentice as they repeatedly pounded pieces of iron with ultimate patience – from fire to hammer on anvil and back again. The ringing sound of metal hammered against anvil gave attendees the sense of being transported back in time—to the era when blacksmith Phineas Vaughan helped Joseph Glidden turn an ordinary coffee grinder into a barbed-wire making machine.

Items made by Hubbard are available in the Glidden Homestead’s Gift Shop, including plant hangers, dinner bells, novelty snakes, knives, a boot/shoe scraper and a long barbecue fork.

Grants for the Blacksmith Shop were provided by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity’s Department of Tourism and the DeKalb County Community Foundation.  Work has included tuckpointing the stone foundation, a new roof, siding, a concrete floor, in addition to grading and reseeding grounds around the Mill House. For more information about the Homestead or the Blacksmith Shop, or details about how you can become a supporting member of the museum, call (815) 756-7904.