FARM & HOME MUSEUM

BLACKSMITH SHOP

A Blacksmith was a very important person in the community because if you needed nails, horseshoes, or cooking utensils you had to go to the blacksmith and get the items that you needed made.  The craft of blacksmithing in its simplest terms is the bending and joining of iron that has been heated in a force until it becomes pliable.  It required three basic tools: a force with an air blowing device, an anvil, and a hammer.  If you want additional information look under the heading of "Art of Iron Forging".

AREA No. 5

In this area you will find a moonshine still that was used in the Southern Appalachian mountains.  The people raised corn and some of them figured out how to make moonshine or corn liquor.  The large kettles were used for cooking and laundry.  The sausage grinders, lard press, and kettles were used when hogs were killed.  Wooden kegs were used to hold nails in country stores or other businesses that sold these items.  Barrels were usually found in the cooper shop.   Coopering was an art that some people learned so they could have storage containers.  The crocks were used for food storage and were usually made in a home pottery.

LOG CABIN

When early settlers came into upper East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and Western North Carolina they chopped down trees and built log cabins.  Since they did not have fuel powered equipment and had to do everything by hand they built small cabins.  Using a broad axe and a primitive saw it was difficult to get enough material for large cabins.  Sometimes the cabin had a crude fireplace or a hole was left in the roof so a fire could be built inside the cabin in a fire pit.  The family slept in the small cabin on floor mats, animal skins, or rope beds.  Cooking was done in a fireplace or in a fire pit.  When the weather was nice a lot of cooking was done outside in large iron kettles over an open fire.  Early settlers had a difficult time keeping warm, finding food, and just hoped that they did not get sick because all they had for medicine was herbs and roots.

During fair week, come by the Museum grounds where we will have individuals there who will show how the horse drawn equipment and the hand tools on display worked!