Outside scene by Kristen Piligra and Danielle Burritt

  Welcome to our virtual tour of the blacksmith's shop at Raquette Lake. Built in the 1800's, this small wood building still stands with the original forge(as shown in the VR scene above). This building is located near the carpenter's shop and the lake shore.  Although the original structure and forge still exists today the shop is currently not in use. The room is used for storage for antique bathtubs, toilets, sinks, bed frames, and even an antique phone.

    When this shop was in use the blacksmith's job was to fabricate iron objects by hot and cold forging and also repair equipment used at the camp. The original forge is made from granite that was retrieved from the Raquette Lake area. There is an open furnace which was used by the blacksmith to heat the iron before shaping it. The structure of the forge was carefully designed in order to maintain the heat and therefore make it easier to shape the metal intowhatever form needed. The importance of the blacksmith was seen throughout the camp. Door handles, fireplace tools and covers, some bed frames, pots and pans, as well as many other tools used at the camp were built by the blacksmith. It is obvious that the blacksmith shop was only one of the very important parts to this self-sustaining community.