Essential to settlers in the 19th and early 20th centuries, many small farm blacksmith shops dotted the landscape in these hills and valleys. Larger industrial foundries and commercial blacksmith shops were located at intersections of commerce, mining, and milling operations in the Sautee and Nacoochee valleys. Blacksmiths in these shops constructed and repaired horseshoes, plows, wagon wheels, nails and all manner of farm equipment.
Near this site stood a small blacksmith shop used to teach the craft to male students at the Nacoochee Institute. Fire destroyed the Institute in 1927, ending the formal instruction at Nacoochee. After the fire, Rabun Industrial School merged with the former Nacoochee Institute, thus creating Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School.
In 2012 the White County Commission funded construction of this blacksmith shop. It serves as a demonstration site for living history programs as well as a meeting place for local blacksmiths whose skills pay tribute to those craftsmen of the past.
Paul Bridges
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