Hopkins Blacksmith Shop

Hopkins Blacksmith Shop. c.1867. , Henry Hopkins was born in 1845, the son of housewright Moses Hopkins Jr. He lived at 463 Long Pond Road. At the age of 22, he and his father, Moses, built a blacksmith shop on their property across the street at 4 Depot Road. Here he shod horses and made hinges, hooks, pulleys, and other tools. , In 1972, the blacksmith shop was sold to the New England Fire and History Museum and moved to the museum's site on Route 6A. In 1973, while at the Fire and History Museum, the blacksmith shop underwent restoration. A new roof was put on, and the original Birmingham brick chimney was taken apart and rebuilt. As was the case at its original site, the shop had no cellar and appeared to rest on bricks. Inside, the original wood forge stood as it always had; Henry Hopkins' original anvil was mounted on a ship's mast beside it, along with two bellows and many original tools. For many years, the shop provided visitors with valuable insight into an earlier way of life in Brewster, but when the Fire Museum closed, the blacksmith shop slowly deteriorated. , In 2009, the Brewster Historical Society acquired the shop and moved it to the Windmill Village grounds, to sit alongside the Higgins-Farm Windmill and the Harris-Black House. With financial support from the Community Preservation Act Funds, the shop was restored to a condition as nearly authentic as is possible today, accurately recreating a period when the art of blacksmithing was at its height, the world over - the second half of the nineteenth century. , Maintained and operated by the Brewster Historical Society , How Brewster’s Forge Works , All of the tools in the Hopkins Blacksmith Shop are hand-powered; there is no electricity in the shop except that which is required for public safety. The blowers, drills, and grinding tools are all hand cranked. , One of the most unusual features of the shop is its wood forge , most restored forges seen today are made of stone or brick, because a wood forge seldom survives the ravages of time. , Combining all of these features the Hopkins Blacksmith Shop now stands as one of the most unique and important historical sites on Cape Cod today.