HISTORY
Heritage Farm Museum Expands Its Storytelling with Blacksmith Forge Exhibit BY NORMAN K. STYER
The Loudoun Heritage Farm Museum has opened a working blacksmith forge, housed in one of the historic barns at Claude Moore Park. It’s the latest exhibit designed to help tell the story of the county’s rich agricultural roots. Blacksmiths were once integral to farms for making and repairing tools and other farming equipment. According to Census records, there were approximately 80 blacksmiths in Loudoun County in the mid-1800s. 14
Replicating a late 1800s/early 1900s forge, the new exhibit was designed by the Blacksmith Guild of the Potomac and constructed by the stone and brick mason class at the Academies of Loudoun. The project was completed in February, but largely has been under wraps because of the coronavirus pandemic, with visits limited to school programs. Executive Director Lori Kimball said that once COVID restrictions are lifted the museum plans to host live blacksmithing demonstrations monthly. A formal grand opening was celebrated in late November.
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HERITAGE FARM MUSEUM
15
DECEMBER 2020
