The Stone City Foundation, Inc. has been
serving the eastern Iowa community since February, 2007.
We design, develop and market historic tours of the area
in and around Stone City, Iowa, Grant Wood Country. In
addition, our friendly and professional staff is here to
answer any questions you may have about places of
interest throughout the entire state of Iowa.
Whether you are interested in a day trip
or a weekend jaunt for the entire family, we can supply
you with the information that you will need to make your
time both enjoyable and educational. At The Stone
City Foundation, our goal is to provide you with
courteous, expedient, professional service of the
highest caliber.
Browse our Web site for more information
about the Stone City, Iowa area. If you have any
questions regarding things to do in eastern Iowa, please
e-mail us atinformation@thestonecityfoundation.org.
The Stone City
Blacksmith Shop One of our current project
is the Blacksmith Shop. Renovation began in late
summer, 2007. It resumed in the spring of 2008
with the installation of two windows in the front.
Painting of the windows is complete, now, and they
should be installed soon. We had a new roof
installed and removed the old gutters. It made a big
improvement in the appearance of the place. You can see
pictures of the roof installation under “Picture
page."
Our next challenge was to figure out how
to get power to the Shop without crossing our neighbor’s
property. The solution that we decided on was to
use of solar power. It works pretty well. It runs the
lights, the VCR and a TV. We use them to show
informational videos.
The biggest change that we
have made recently is a new floor. The old wooden
floor was rotten and infested with powder-post beetles,
as was many other wooden “things” in the shop. Even the
stump that the anvil was on was full of bugs. We tore
out and burned the floor. Under it we found concrete
supports had been poured at some time. We jack-hammered
those out too. By this time we were down to
bedrock.
We brought in sixteen tons of gravel and
eight tons of ag-lime and packed in down for the new
floor. Now it is starting to look authentic. There are
several great pictures of the inside of the shop in “SC
Places”. We are getting very close to firing up the
forges. The forges need a little work, but they are
repairable. That’s my next project.
There are a
number of projects yet to be done. We have to divert
rain water away from the back of the building, because
if we don’t, it tends to find it’s way into the
building. We are going to build a short stone and
railroad tie fence in front to keep patron’s of The Pub
from making U-turns on our lawn. We have to paint the
walls and refinish the floor upstairs. We have to clean
the chimneys and make wood for the stove before winter
really gets here. Hey! We’re enjoying every minute
of it.
The Stone City Blacksmith
Shop continuing saga!
An update on the progress of the
shop.
We had a Boy Scout Eagle
Project at the shop on Saturday, November
14th. It’ pretty amazing what fifteen 13 year
olds can accomplish.
The fifteen Boy Scouts,
three adult leaders and one Foundation member built 100
feet of limestone and railroad tie fence in front of the
shop and they replaced our temporary drainage system
with a stone retaining wall, gravel and perforated pipe
drainage system in the back of the building. (No
pictures yet. Waiting for better weather.) All in one
day!
A couple of us went to the
shop the other day and checked out the chimneys. They
are in great shape. There are three chimneys coming up
through one brick structure. One has a cap on it, the
other two do not. I am going to build a single cap that
covers all three openings. We think the cap is necessary
not only to keep the rain out, but also as a spark
arrestor. We built a small fire in the stove upstairs to
see how well the chimney would draw. No problem!
I ‘ve gotten the big iron
(railroad) forge all torn apart. The old blower wouldn’t
turn, the clinker breaker wouldn’t move, the
hood/chimney is gone and the belts were broken or
stretched to the point where they didn’t work. It is not
as bad as it sounds. One of the vanes inside the blower
is missing. I made a new one but, I haven’t installed it
yet. The blower was also full of mouse nest: that’s why
it wouldn’t turn. I managed to get all of the old bolts
out of the forge and I am replacing them. I found some
belt material but, I have to find a “belt lacer” so I
can make a new belt. The belt is the last thing I need
to put it all back together. I’m excited.
I believe this forge is
about 100 years old. The blower has the name “Canedy
Otto Mfg. Co, Chicago Heights, Ill., Western Chief” in
raised letters on it. They were in business from 1890
through 1942.
The Foundation has decided
to have our Christmas at the shop. We going to decorate
the place and maybe upgrade the solar system so we run
lots of Christmas lights.
It is going
well!
The Stone City Blacksmith Shop
Our latest project. Renovation began in late summer, 2007. It resumed in the spring of 2008 with the installation of two windows in the front. We are painting and assembling eight more windows which will be installed before the first snow fall.
Now we have a new roof on the building. It looks great. I’ll add some new pictures to the web site in a day or so.
Our next challenge is to figure out how to get power to the Shop without crossing our neighbor’s property. One solution that we are considering is the use of solar power. Tell us what you think.
We will continue to tuck point the walls. There is a lot of work to be done on the inside as well, but our first priority is the outward appearance.
The Blacksmith Shop is alive again!
After many volunteer
hours, a lot of sweat and some well spent money, a Blacksmith was
once again pounding on iron in the Blacksmith Shop. Since the
Dearborn Quarry closed around 1902, I figure it has been at least
108 years since a Smith worked here. That’s pretty amazing!
What is even more amazing
is that we are using a coal forge (seen behind me) that was probably
used last when the shop went silent. If you saw my last progress
update, you read my description of the poor condition of the old
forge. Well, after some new nuts and bolts, (I used as many of the
old ones that I could save) a few handmade new parts such as vanes
in the blower, three new belts and more than forty labor hours, the
forge works like a dream.
I learned a lot about
coal in the process as well. Just any coal won’t do and wood is
certainly out of the question. Mostly, smoke is the problem. By
checking various website I found the nearest source of “Blacksmith
Coal” in Ames, Iowa, about 135 miles from Stone City. It was well
worth the trip. It burns hot and clean! I wouldn’t want to make the
trip very often, but after our initial success, word is getting
around and people and organizations are asking us to open the shop
for various occasions. We are happy to show off!
Our next project will be
to finish the upstairs area. It’s usable now, but we intend to
repaint the ceiling and walls and sand and seal the floor. We may
even replace the lawn furniture with real chairs. We will also
insulate the attic area. That should make the meeting room easier to
heat in the winter.
As far as the Blacksmith
Shop, (ground level) in addition to demonstrations we are collecting
old tools and machinery to hang on the walls and populate the floor
to make the place look even more authentic. It looks good now!
If you have a tool that
you want to loan to us or give to us, let us know. If you are not
too far away, we may come and pick it up. Send us a message
at:
We still have a few other
parts of building that need our attention, but it’s come a long way
in the past two years.
If you are going to be in
our area, give Jones County Tourism a call at 319-462-4101 and tell
them you would like to have a tour and I’ll show you the Blacksmith
Shop.
