Blacksmiths were very important and necessary folk during the colonization of America. They were needed to make iron tools, like plowshares, so the hard work of planting and building structures could be completed. Farriers were smiths who specialized in shoeing horses. But smiths not only shod horses, they created springs and wheel parts for carriages, made nails, pots, pans, and other utensils. The work was done with a hammer and anvil, using iron heated in a fire kept hot by hand-operated bellows. Without blacksmiths to work iron, the settlers could not have moved west as quickly as they did. Today, mass production methods have all but eliminated most work done by blacksmiths.
The Wysong Blacksmith Shop
The smell of molten metal and the hiss of fire in water do not echo on Fincastle’s Main Street anymore, but visitors can see the efforts of blacksmiths of old in the Ludwig Wysong Blacksmith Shop museum at Wysong Park. ...
The museum was dedicated in 1978, a gift to Historic Fincastle, Inc. (HFI) from two brothers: Rufus and Dr. H. D. Wysong. During the 1970s, while researching family history, they became interested in the old shop. It was the last remaining smithy in town, and they purchased it and restored it as a tribute to Fiedt Wysong, their ancestor.
The Wysong brothers partnered with HFI to reconstruct the sagging building. Wysongs from all over the United States donated money, and HFI provided additional funding to help acquire the lot, which is now called the Ludwig Wysong Memorial Park, in honor of Fiedt Wysong’s father....
Fiedt Wysong (1755-1837) was an early Fincastle settler who owned many properties in town. The museum may not have been his shop – there were several in the area and no one knows which was his. But the current building was a working smithy until 1932. ...
... Today, one room of the museum contains benches and furniture, and is called the Wysong Meeting Room. ...
Information courtesy of Fincastle Historian Dottie Kessler and Historic Fincastle, Inc. Original article appeared in The Fincastle Herald in 2004.
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