Steeped in history, the Watkins Blacksmith Shop is one of the oldest blacksmith shops still in existence in Maine, and this summer visitors to the Raymond-Casco Historical Society Museum will be able to watch blacksmiths take red-hot iron from the fires of the shop’s forge and hammer it into a variety of tools and hardware.
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| The Old Watkins Blacksmith Shop, dating back to the 1850s in Casco has been moved and fully restored and will be open this summer for forge demonstrations at the Raymond-Casco Historical Museum in Casco. SUBMITTED PHOTO |
Footage of the blacksmith’s forge and shop was included in a 1922 silent movie called “Timothy’s Quest” and it once was part of a thriving rural community in Casco, but over the past eight decades, the building slowly become a crumbling relic of Maine’s past. That is, until an idea about moving the building was pitched to Frank McDermott, president of the Raymond-Casco Historical Society. He saw the potential of moving the blacksmith shop to the society’s museum on Watkins Farm in Casco, restoring it and using it for live demonstrations for the public and now that idea has become a reality.
Carefully disassembling every piece of the old shop, refurbishing them and reassembling that building, the blacksmith shop is now weather tight, and steps have been taken to preserve its interior, particularly the ox-lift. The split stone hearth has been moved and reassembled and the chimney has been reconstructed using period bricks. Historical society volunteers are presently restoring the building’s windows and doors. A great deal of work remains with sorting, preserving, and displaying the artifacts from the shop, including rebuilding the harness from the ox lift and re-leathering the bellows.
McDermott expects to have the forge operational for the debut of the blacksmith shop at a grand opening on June 11, but work will continue restoring the shop throughout the season. New historical society members who want to assist and learn more about this interesting project are always welcomed.
A team of advisors assisted the historical society in moving the structure to the museum and that group included Dr. Robert Schmick, Museum Director of 19th Century Curran Village in Orrington, Ed Somers of Bridgton, a specialist in preservation and restoration of buildings of this era, and Kerry Tottle of Limington, who devised a plan for lifting sections of the building over an adjacent building at its original location.
“Keep in mind that the majority of the work in taking it apart and putting it back together was accomplished with the help of six or eight volunteers that worked five to seven hours a day for two and a half months last summer,” McDermott said. “Where we presently stand in the shop, we are amazed at what was accomplished. We realize that we have saved an important part of history that should serve the communities as well as the state for another 200-plus years. Most of the credit for saving this piece of history must go to the citizens of Casco and Raymond for their generous donations they voted to give the project last summer. Then we must thank the individual donors that put us over the top. Without them, nothing would have been accomplished.”
According to McDermott, the hardest part of the entire project was truly believing that the Raymond-Casco Historical Society could pull it off.
“When we first considered the project, we had no more than eight or 10 working members and the majority were in their 70s and beyond,” he said. “We realized that for our society to survive, we needed to attract new, younger members. Taking on this project seemed to be the answer. Hopefully there are people out there that will be willing to help us flourish and grow.”
McDermott said Lucas Damen, a Master Blacksmith, has been working with the historical society from the beginning of the project and he will be stopping in from time to time this summer and is presently helping the museum line up blacksmiths to work the forge at the site this summer for museum demonstrations.
Guests to the Raymond-Casco Historical Society Museum can explore four buildings at the site. The main building is the museum itself. It was constructed and then donated by Skip and Zina Watkins to the Historical Society and contains exhibits of historical value to Raymond and Casco. There’s also a barn featuring farming and industrial exhibits that were used in both Raymond and Casco dating as far back as the 18th century.
The third building on the museum grounds is a true replica of the Friends School House that was destroyed by a fire years ago. At the time of the fire, historical society members were in the process of moving it to the site and it’s an excellent example of a one-room schoolhouse. The school is used for demonstrations as well as a meeting space. And now the fourth building at the museum is the Watkins Blacksmith Shop.
There is no charge to visit the museum which opens Memorial Day Weekend and will be open from noon to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Expanded museum hours may be available this summer. The Raymond-Casco Historical Society Museum is located at 1 Shadow Lane in Casco. For more information, call 207-655-6389. <
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