Old Stone Mill, Delta, Ontario

Blacksmith Shop, Delta, Ontario

The Blacksmith Shop building has undergone many changes. It got its first use as a Blacksmith Shop in the late 1920s, but the history of the building dates back to the 1850s.

In the early 1850s, new owner of the Old Stone Mill, Walter H. Denaut, had a community hall build beside the Old Stone Mill. Its design was that of a brick hall on top of a stone foundation that served as a carriage shed for the hall.

In the late 1920s, then owner of the Old Stone Mill, Hastings Steele sold the hall to George Snider who repurposed the carriage shed portion as a Blacksmith Shop. He ran it as a Blacksmith Shop for 16 years until he sold it to Warren Henderson. Henderson later sold it to Gordon Grey who operated it as a garage.

In 1994, the Delta Mill Society purchased the building, naming it the Driveshed and used it for oversized artifact storage. The DMS also looked at using the Blacksmithing section for public demonstrations which started in the fall of 1994.

In 2022, the DMS renovated the building, rebuilding the forge (which was in very poor shape) as well as installing a second forge.

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Evolution of the Blacksmith Shop from 1850s to present.
Mill Driveshed & Blacksmith Shop in 2003.\n\nIn 1994, when the DMS acquired the building, they named it the Driveshed, a term meaning a building designed for agricultural machinery storage. \n\nA purpose of the building, then as today, is for the storage of oversized artefacts which are part of the Delta Mill Society's overall arefact collections.
Inside the Driveshed/Blacksmith Shop in 2001\n\nArt shaw is doing a blacksmithing demonstration during Thanksgiving Festival in Delta in 2001.
Art Shaw at the old forge in 2001\n\nIn 1994 when the Delta Mill Society purchased this building, Art rehabilitated the old forge and conducted the first public demonstration of blacksmithing that fall.


Art Shaw in 2001\n\nNote the old forge. We assume it was intalled in the late 1920s by George Snider after he purchased the building from Hastings Steele, the owner of the Old Stone Mill and Denaut Hall at the time. \n\nOther work by Snider included a concrete floor replacing the original dirt carriage shed floor and the addition of two windows in the back stone wall.
Blacksmiths busy in the shop in 2018\n\nJohn Cain on the left, Josh Price centre and Amanda Van Bruggen on the right.\n\nJohn was our volunteer "resident blacksmith" for several years in the late 2010s.
Blacksmith John Cain at the forge.\n\nFor several years John, who worked in Gananoque, would come out on weekends to have have the Blacksmith Shop open to public. We lost him after he moved away from this region when he retired in 2020.
The Driveshed/Blacksmith Shop in 2018


Delta Harvest Festival 2015\n\nBlacksmiths Rory MacKay and Amanda Van Bruggen doing blacksmithing demonstrations.\n\nNote the visitors standiing in the doorway - we didn't have much room for visitors prior to our 2022 restoration of the shop
Delta Harvest Festival 2015\n\nBlacksmith Amanda Van Bruggen explaining a blacksmithing technique to visitors in the small space. The other part of the building behind the wall was filled with oversized artifacts collected by the DMS over the years.
The Cheese Box Veneer Lathe\n\nArt Shaw stands beside the 8,500 pounds (almost 4,000 kg) cheese box veneer lathe that is slowly making its way out of the Blacksmith Shop in advance of renovations. It was moved by hand, note the rollers on the floor.\n\nAs part of our getting rid of things that don't fit the DMS collection mandate, our policy is to first offer it to another museum. This was headed to the Ingersoll Cheese and Agricultural Museum, who took this item and other cheese box making implements.
Cheese Box Veneer Lathe\n\nIt took a group of volunteers to move this out onto the sidewalk in advance of pickup. The piece of machinery weighed in at about 8,500 pounds (almost 4,000 kg).


Oversized Artefacts\n\nWith the Cheese Box Veneer Lathe gone, the rest of the artefacts were piled into a corner in advance of restoration.
Delta Mill Society Blacksmith's Shop\n\nThis is a view just prior to our 2022 restoration of the shop.
DMS Directors Moel Benoit and Art Shaw check out the dismantled stone forge. In the background is the metal forge donated to the DMS by Rory MacKay.
Newly Rebuilt Stone Forge in 2022


Art Shaw in front of the newly rebuilt stone forge and newly installed metal forge.\n\nThe two forges allow up to 4 blacksmiths to be working at the same time without getting in each others way.
The Lyndhurst "Bear" on display\n\nThe large (800 lb/360 kg) chunk of metal is a mixture of\niron and slag, material left in the bottom of the Lyndhurst blast furnace after the structure burned down in 1811.\n\nThis was retrieved during an archaeological investigation of the Lyndhurst Ironworks (1801-1811) led by Art Shaw.
The Lighted Display Cabinet\n\nWe needed a divider to separate the artifact storage area from the blacksmithing/public area. Art Shaw came up with idea and then built it - a lit display cabinet with beautiful period (heritage) windows.
Art Shaw testing out the "new" metal forge\n\nThe first test is to make sure it properly drafts. At the top of the chimneys are rotational vents to ensure we don't get smoke blowback into the Blacksmith Shop.


View of the back of the Blacksmith Shop in 2023 \n\nNote the rotational vents at the top of the chimneys, each has a weather vane in the shape of a forge on the top of it.
Rebranding in 2023\n\nThe Driveshed Sign has been removed and is being replaced with a 16 foot long hand painted sign identifying the Blacksmith Shop.
Blacksmith Megan Carter forge welding.\n\nBlacksmith Mike Armstrong looks on as Megan produces a shower of sparks. When this technique is demonstrated, safety glasses are handed out to the audience.\n\nMegan and Mike run Armstrong and Carter Ironworks in Delta. They volunteer with the Delta Mill Society as well as operating blacksmith training classes in the DMS shop as part of their business.
Blacksmith Mike Armstrong demonstrating heritage blacksmithing.\n\nEveryone is fascinated watching a blacksmith forge metal into various useful shapes. The kids in this photo are clearly fascinated by what Mike is doing


Blacksmith Megan Carter conducting a demonstration.\n\nThis is at the September 2023 meeting of the Ontario Artist Blacksmith Association in Delta.
An interested audience of blacksmiths\n\nThe renovated shop provides a lot more room for visitors, including this group of Ontario Artist Blacksmith Association members.
Blacksmith Megan Carter with a a budding blacksmith\n\nThis young lad is clearly fascinated by what Megan has forged. Megan Carter and Mike Armstrong conduct blacksmith training the shop, perhaps this fellow will attend when he's a bit older.
Blacksmith Mike Armstrong demonstrating heritage blacksmithing


Finishing Touches\n\nHere we see Art Shaw and Rebecca Rothwell putting the finishing touches on the new set of windows Art made in 2024. \n\nArt's many skills include heritage carpentry such as these period correct windows.
Art Shaw in 2024\n\nArt Shaw has been the driving force behind the Blacksmith Shop since the DMS bought the building in 1994. We wouldn't have a beautiful, fully renovated Blacksmith Shop if not for Art.


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