Quasdorf Blacksmith and Wagon Museum

[Abby Brown] Check out all these cool tools and this awesome equipment. What could this place be?

(Map marking Wright County in the north-central part of the state.)

In the small town of Dows the Quasdorf Blacksmith and Wagon Museum helps us to visualize what a real blacksmith shop would have looked like when it was an important part of getting work done in this community.

(A large white and light blue clap board wagon.)

(A free standing metal pulley system with two tall square poles holding up the two wheel pulley system mounted into a cross beam between the two poles.)

The age-old art of blacksmithing dates back thousands of years and involves using heavy tools and fire to melt, shape, and weld metal.

Frank Quasdorf was the local blacksmith here and many of the tools, equipment and other blacksmithing items on display were his.

Things like the forge, anvils, and vices.

(The forge workspace’s metal hearth is sunk into the table top like a sink. Various tools, pieces of coal and iron are scattered on the table top. A vent is above the hearth.)

(The anvil is a large, heavy block of iron or steel with a flat surface for general work, a horn for bending, and a hardy hole for making specialized tools.)

(A vice is made up of two parallel jaws - one fixed and one movable - that tighten around an object when a handle is turned.)

Some of the tools blacksmiths created were iron and steel tools. They were really high quality so they were worth fixing instead of replacing.

Blacksmiths also worked on horseshoes and wagon wheels. Some of the wheels are exhibited here.

Museums like this remind us that a blacksmith was important, the go-to creator and fixer of tools and equipment.

Every county in Iowa has an iron-clad story to tell. It's been an eye-opening experience exploring Wright County.

Funding for FIND Iowa has been provided by The Coons Foundation, Pella and the Gilchrist Foundation