HAVERHILL — The Matthew Edel Blacksmith Shop (MEBS) in Haverhill, Iowa will be open every day through Labor Day from Noon to 4:00 p.m. Admission is free, and a special tour is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, August 18.
A skilled blacksmith and inventor, German immigrant Matthew Edel owned the shop from 1883 until his death in 1940. The complete and original shop has been kept just as he left it the day he died. Visitors can see his tools, inventions, and hear stories about blacksmithing in the age before tractors and automobiles. A visit to the shop is a trip back in time, when Haverhill was a thriving market town, horses ruled the roads and fields, and everyday tools were repaired rather than replaced. The shop remains almost untouched since its owner died in 1940, offering visitors a look at the life and work of an innovative craftsman and entrepreneur.
The MEBS was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983 due to its relatively untouched condition. The MEBS historic site was donated by the descendants of Matthew Edel to the State Historical Society of Iowa in 1986. (Matthew Edel’s only daughter, Mary “Mayme” Edel Ryan, is Solon’s own Pat Ikan’s maternal grandmother and lived in Haverhill her entire life.) Go to this website for more MEBS site history: https://iowaculture.gov/history/sites/matthew-edel-blacksmith-shop.
The site is one of nine owned by the State Historical Society of Iowa and is administered locally by the Historical Society of Marshall County: 503 West Main Street; Marshalltown, IA 50158. Group tours of the MEBS in Haverhill are welcome. Please schedule in advance with the HSMC by Email or call at (641) 752-6664.