Blacksmith Shop at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site

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The Jesse Hoover Blacksmith Shop at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site is a modern structure based on typical blacksmith shops of the 1870s as well as on Tad Hoover’s memories of his father’s shop. The idea of adding a blacksmith shop to the grounds surrounding the Hoover Birthplace Cottage was part of the Hoover Birthplace Society’s (HBS) 1948 Master Plan. The HBS was an organization formed in 1939 to manage and develop the property into some type of historical park. At the time, the blacksmith shop was low on the list of priorities, so nothing was done.

Herbert Hoover and his family came to West Branch for his 80th birthday in 1954. Allen Hoover, the Hoover’s youngest son, discussed the blacksmith shop with the HBS, and later with his father. Herbert did not like the idea since there was no known architectural drawing of the shop, so any proposed structure would be based on speculation. At the time, the HBS did pretty much what Hoover wanted. A year later, he changed his mind, agreeing to the project as long as the building wasn’t promoted as an exact replica of his father’s shop. Hoover also suggested the shop not be on its original location directly across Penn Street from the cottage so that it would not overshadow the cottage.

Construction on the Jesse Hoover Blacksmith Shop finally got underway in February 1957. It was completed three months later in May. As mentioned, the original shop stood on the corner of Penn and Downey streets directly across from the cottage, but the reproduction shop was built a little to the west per Hoover’s suggestion. Because of this, the original site was never covered over. In the 1970s, the National Park Service conducted an archeological excavation of the original site to see if the exact location of the shop could be found. Despite other structures having been built on the lot over the years, the archeologists were able to find the shop’s general footprint. Tad’s recollection about the size and shape of his father’s shop had been pretty accurate. Unfortunately, he never got to see the new blacksmith shop, for he died on February 5, 1955.

Jesse and his father, Eli, built the blacksmith shop in 1871, and Jesse operated it until 1879. At that time he sold the shop and land and opened a new store on Main Street where he sold farm equipment. The blacksmith shop remained standing on its original spot until 1888, at which time it was moved to another location and turned into a barn, possibly for a veterinarian practice. By 1894, the whereabouts of the Hoover blacksmith shop, if it were even still standing, were unknown.

The reproduction blacksmith shop was constructed using wood from a barn built in the 1870s. The equipment in the shop is authentic and from the time period. Some of it still works, and it is used when blacksmithing demonstrations are held at the park.