It's kinda strange; doing iron work for a blacksmith shop, but here's some that I was commissioned to do this summer.

This is the new blacksmith shop at the Sequoia Birthplace Museum on the banks of Telico Lake in Vonore, TN.

Sequoia was the Cherokee that invented the Cherokee alphabet. The Lake used to be the Little Tennessee River, and it is "ground zero" for the Overhill Cherokee culture. The Cherokee occupied this region until the removals of the 1840's, so log homes and farm skills would have been common among them.

Anyhow, this will soon be a working shop. I'll be interested to see it up and running.

Don

That's a nice shed, I like the open part. Is there a reason for the braces of the doors being on the outside?

Don,

Nice shop and thanks for the pictures. How large is it?

Brian

Very nice. Thank you for sharing. Will that shop be a working shop with a smith?

That's a good job but I also like the building. If the planks for the door weren't hand hewn they were made to look that way. That is an authentic touch which gives the whole thing that much more character. Thanks for sharing it.

Bill

You see a lot of old buildings locally with the "Z" braces on the outside. Just a style thing, I guess.

I'm not sure of the dimensions. Those hinges were around 14", so that might give you some sense of scale.

The guy that oversees the site is actually a blacksmith as well. I imagine they will have it fired up on certain weekends and for special events. It should be outfitted pretty well by now, but it will undoubtedly remain an "unplugged" shop. Everything will fit the first half of the 19th Century.

The wood is beautiful. I hope to find out where they got it.

Also, my appologies to Sequoyah for misspelling his name above. Here's their site:

Sequoyah Museum: The Sequoyah Birthplace Museum

Don

but I just finished a hasp and staples for my shop door. Did you copy my design (jest a-kiddin':p)? By the way, your's look much better...can we trade? Take a look:

Nice looking shop, and the hardware is right on the money.

On this side of the Smokies William Rogers recently worked with Cherokee (Tsalagi) youths to get a tribal blacksmith shop established. I'll have to do a little research to check the status of that project. Always good to get the kids involved.

BTW, if you want to get REALLY correct the man's name is spelled ᏎᏉᏯ or ᏍᏏᏉᏯ.

Not when he was born it wasn't!

(part Cherokee from the OK end of the Trail of Tears)