Benjamin Blacksmith Shop | |
Location | Market Street Mackinac Island, Michigan |
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Coordinates | 45°50′57″N84°37′10″W / 45.84912°N 84.61948°W |
Part of | Mackinac Island (ID66000397 [1] ) |
Designated NHLDCP | October 15, 1966 |
The Benjamin Blacksmith Shop is a blacksmithy and museum, in operation since before 1885, located adjacent to the Biddle House on Market Street [2] on Mackinac Island in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of Mackinac Island State Park. Mackinac Island is known for its local ordinances that forbid privately operated motor vehicles and encourage widespread use of horses, and this smithy displays and celebrates examples of the craft of horseshoeing.
The Star Blacksmith Shop was bought by blacksmith-postmaster Robert Benjamin in 1885. At that time, and for 80 years thereafter, it operated at a slightly different location on Market Street. Mackinac Island's population was not big enough to allow the Benjamin family to specialize in the work done by the shop. It operated as a mixed smithy, performing craft forge operations and horseshoeing for the Island's large summer and smaller winter populations. [3]
After blacksmith Herbert Benjamin's death in 1965, the Benjamin Blacksmith Shop was threatened with closure. In 1968, heir Robert "Bob" Benjamin donated the shop and its fittings to the Mackinac Island State Park Commission, which moved the building to its present location adjacent to the Biddle House and restored it to its appearance in the 1950s. [3]
As a tourist attraction starting in 1968, the Benjamin Blacksmith Shop largely ended its horseshoeing work (which continued at other locations on Mackinac Island) and specialized in craft metalwork. Blacksmiths can be seen at this location throughout the State Park's period of full summer operations, forging mild steel items and implements for use by the State Park and sale to the public. [3]
Admission is by Fort Mackinac ticket. Since 1985, the Shop has hosted an annual Blacksmith Convention, usually held on the first weekend in August. [4]
Mackinac Island is an island and resort area, covering 4.35 square miles (11.3 km2) in land area, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the island in Odawa is Michilimackinac and "Mitchimakinak" in Ojibwemowin meaning "Great Turtle". It is located in Lake Huron, at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, between the state's Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The island was long home to an Odawa settlement and previous indigenous cultures before European colonization began in the 17th century. It was a strategic center of the fur trade around the Great Lakes. Based on a former trading post, Fort Mackinac was constructed on the island by the British during the American Revolutionary War. It was the site of two battles during the War of 1812 before the northern border was settled and the US gained this island in its territory.
Mackinac Island is a city in Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 583.
Fort Mackinac is a former British and American military outpost garrisoned from the late 18th century to the late 19th century in the city of Mackinac Island, Michigan, on Mackinac Island. The British built the fort during the American Revolutionary War to control the strategic Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and by extension the fur trade on the Great Lakes. The British did not relinquish the fort until thirteen years after the end of the American Revolutionary War. Fort Mackinac later became the scene of two strategic battles for control of the Great Lakes during the War of 1812. During most of the 19th century, it served as an outpost of the United States Army. Closed in 1895, the fort has been adapted as a museum on the grounds of Mackinac Island State Park.
M-185 is a state trunkline highway in the U.S. state of Michigan that circles Mackinac Island, a popular tourist destination on the Lake Huron side of the Straits of Mackinac, along the island's shoreline. A narrow paved road of 8.004 miles (12.881 km), it offers scenic views of the straits that divide the Upper and the Lower peninsulas of Michigan and Lakes Huron and Michigan. It has no connection to any other Michigan state trunkline highways—as it is on an island—and is accessible only by passenger ferry. The City of Mackinac Island, which shares jurisdiction over the island with the Mackinac Island State Park Commission (MISPC), calls the highway Main Street within the built-up area on the island's southeast quadrant, and Lake Shore Road elsewhere. M-185 passes by several important sites within Mackinac Island State Park, including Fort Mackinac, Arch Rock, British Landing, and Devil's Kitchen. Lake Shore Road carries the highway next to the Lake Huron shoreline, running between the water's edge and woodlands outside the downtown area.
Philip Simmons was an American artisan and blacksmith specializing in the craft of ironwork. Simmons spent 78 years as a blacksmith, focusing on decorative iron work. When he began his career, blacksmiths in Charleston made practical, everyday household objects, such as horseshoes. By the time he retired 77 years later, the craft was considered an art form rather than a practical profession.
Mackinac Island State Park is a state park located on Mackinac Island in the U.S. state of Michigan. A Lake Huron island, it is near the Straits of Mackinac. The island park encompasses 1,800 acres (7.3 km2), which is approximately 80% of the island's total area. The park is also within the boundaries of the city of Mackinac Island and has permanent residents within its boundaries. M-185 circles the perimeter of the park as the only motorless highway in the state due to the island's ban of automobiles. The park is governed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Mackinac Island State Park Commission. On July 15, 2009, the park celebrated its 20 millionth visitor.
Old Town San Diego State Historic Park, located in the Old Town neighborhood of San Diego, California, is a state protected historical park in San Diego. It commemorates the early days of the City of San Diego and includes many historic buildings from the period 1820 to 1870. The park was established in 1968. In 2005 and 2006, California State Parks listed Old Town San Diego as the most visited state park in California.
Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop is a historic structure at the corner of Bourbon Street and St. Philip Street in the French Quarter of New Orleans, Louisiana. Most likely built as a house in the 1770s during the Spanish colonial period, it is one of the oldest surviving structures in New Orleans.
The buildings of the St Helena Light complex are the sole surviving structures on St. Helena Island, in Mackinac County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The lighthouse on the St. Helena Island's southeastern point was built in 1872-1873 and went into operation in September 1873. It became one of a series of lighthouses that guided vessels through the Straits of Mackinac, past a dangerous shoal that extends from the island.
Historic Mill Creek Discovery Park, formerly known as Historic Mill Creek State Park is a state park, nature preserve, and historic site in the United States state of Michigan. It is run by Mackinac State Historic Parks, the operating arm of the Mackinac Island State Park. 625 acres (2.5 km2) in size, the park is located 5 miles (8 km) southeast of Mackinaw City, Michigan on U.S. Highway 23.
Old Mackinac Point Light is a deactivated lighthouse located at the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula in the U.S. state of Michigan. The lighthouse is part of Fort Michilimackinac State Park in the village of Mackinaw City just east of the Mackinac Bridge.
Downtown Baltimore is the central business district of the city of Baltimore traditionally bounded by Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard to the west, Franklin Street to the north, President Street to the east and the Inner Harbor area to the south.
For the lighthouse of the same name in the St. Mary's River, see Round Island Light
British Landing is a place within Mackinac Island, Michigan and is located on the shore of Mackinac Island, two miles (3 km) northwest of the island's downtown and harbor. British Landing is the site of a War of 1812 amphibious operation on July 16–17, 1812, by a joint force of the British Army and their allies among the Native Americans and indigenous people of Canada. The operation led directly to the surrender of Fort Mackinac by the U.S. Army.
The Biddle House is a historic house and fur trade shop space, built before 1800 on Market Street on Mackinac Island in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is part of Mackinac Island State Park. It is a Michigan Registered Site and a contributing resource to Mackinac Island's status as a National Historic Landmark.
The McGulpin House is a historic house museum, located in a structure originally built before 1780 and now located at the corner of Fort Street and Market Street on Mackinac Island, Michigan. It is owned, operated, and opened to the public during the summer months by Mackinac Island State Park as part of Historic Downtown Mackinac Island.
The Robert Stuart House, also known as the Agent's House or Agency House, is a building located at 34 Market Street on Mackinac Island, Michigan. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1965.
The Old Blacksmith Shop is located at 26 Charlotte Street in St. Augustine, Florida. It is a reconstruction of an outbuilding located on the site during the British possession of Florida.
The Colonial Industrial Quarter in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania is considered America's earliest industrial park. Established by the colonial Moravians along the banks of the Monocacy Creek, the ten-acre site contains historic buildings such as the 1762 Waterworks, 1761 Tannery, 1869 Luckenbach Mill, 1748/1834 Gristmiller's House, reconstructed 1764Springhouse and 1750Smithy, as well as ruins of the original 1749Pottery, 1752Butchery, 1765Oil Mill, and 1771 Dye House. This location was chosen to take advantage of a spring that supplied potable water and the power supplied by the Monocacy Creek's flow for the craftsmen and trades of early Bethlehem.
The Salisbury Village Blacksmith Shop is a historic industrial building at 925 Maple Street in Salisbury, Vermont. The site has a documented industrial history back to the late 18th century, and the building is the last surviving remnant of a once-bustling industrial area adjacent to Salisbury village. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2020.