George Kettler's Blacksmith Shop

George Kettler's Blacksmith Shop. This building was originally George Kettler's Blacksmith shop, built in 1889 with ox and horse shoeing sheds on both sides. As the horse and buggy gave way to the automobile, it became an early garage. In 1947, it was acquired by Tom and Florence Adams as the print shop for "The Idaho Mountaineer" when they purchased the newspaper. Using a linotype machine that dated from 1904 and a press from 1886, they persevered in putting out the publication once a week. In 1963, Idaho's Territorial Centennial Year, 100 years after the establishment of the first newspaper in Idaho City -- the second in the state -- the Adams's returned the name to "The Idaho World" after a lapse of 45 years. , When Tom Adams died in 1975, the building was shut intact, and only occasionally shown to guests. In the late 1970's, when it began to structurally deteriorate, Mrs. Florence Adams commissioned San Aarons to reinforce the building using original posts and beam methods, ultimately saving the structure. , After remaining vacant for many years, it was sold and renovated for commercial use in 1990 as the Happy Burro Trad'n Post. It then became the Growling Bear: sporting goods and gifts. In 2008 it became the home of the Cowboy Fast Draw Association.