Hammer In set for this Saturday
William Molson of Waynesburg University Media Arts Department documents a blacksmith demonstration at the 2012 Hammer In.
An example of some of the fine forged metal art that will be on display at the Hammer In Saturday
RICES LANDING – “We are celebrating 25 years this year,” Blacksmith Chris Holt declared.
“We” is the Pittsburgh Area Artist Blacksmith Association and the Appalachian Blacksmiths Association of West Virginia. It’s those members who fire up the forges for the Hammer In at the Historic W.A. Young & Sons Machine Shop and Foundry on Water Street, Rices Landing, every April. On Saturday about 9 a.m., they will descend on this sleepy river town to unload their equipment and their expertise, and the public is invited to come see what smithies have been doing for a thousand years.
The Hammer In has its share of loyal followers who love this yearly trek to the old machine shop and foundry that opened its doors in 1900. PAABA and ABA members spent several years readying the foundry for tours before inviting the public in. Their demonstrations exemplify the art of metal being heated, beaten and shaped into items of necessity and decoration.
The first Hammer In was an instant hit with history buffs and machine lovers alike, and a generation of kids who came with their parents to watch blacksmiths at work are now back with their own kids. Demonstrations happen throughout the day, lunch is served and the day wraps up at 1 p.m. with an auction of tools, spare parts, donated gag gifts and objects d’ art made by many of the blacksmiths who are there to laugh, joke and share their love of the forge.
“We want to keep this art form going forward, and this is the place to do it,” Holt said. Rices Landing’s historical importance as a Monongahela River town has put the Hammer In on the tourist maps, and the scenic river Rails to Trail that runs through town allows visitors to ride in from Greene Cove, Fayette County. A landing dock gives boaters a chance to tie off and walk to the old foundry where river boats once had their engine shafts retooled while they waited.
The foundry also has a new steward, Holt noted. “Thank goodness for Rivers of Steel regarding the care of the foundry. Without the huge investment of the historically correct roof, we may not have a building. This major step in saving the foundry shows commitment and willingness to care for it as a valuable artifact of the past.”
The treasure trove of items that the Young brothers left behind when they closed their father’s shop in 1965 made it a time capsule waiting to be rediscovered. On Saturday, the worn edges of every wall and door will be a blast from the past for those who walk among the machinery and watch in awe as the old engine fires up and dozens of belts dangling in air begin to move. This is what once turned the shafts of every lathe, grinder and cutter on the floor.
A careful traipse up the blackened wooden stairs, past the sign that reads No Boys Allowed, leads upstairs to the finely forged metal art display, each piece glinting in the light streaming through windows tinted by the dust of ages. All that is missing is the din of the machinery that would have been operating back in the day when this really was the busiest machine shop in town.