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The sign points the way to Edel's Blacksmith Shop in Haverhill Iowa. Photo by the author
The stories of the true west aren't just about lawman and outlaws. The west could have never been tamed without the steel and grit of hard work and innovation.
-G.C. Stevens
HAVERHILL IOWA
On a bright and fair summer day, I took an Iowa road less traveled. I exited the black top and hit the gravel road. I heard my wives voice in my head, say "roll up the windows, or dust will get in the truck, this is Iowa," I heeded the voice, hit the button and as the window slid up, I left a dirty contrail behind me, heading into the Kelly-green hills of a summertime Iowa. I was looking for a small town in Central Iowa called Haverhill. I had seen an informational sign on highway 330 multiple times over the years indicating that there was a historic blacksmiths shop somewhere in the area. I had traveled this route many times, but today, I felt compelled to finally take a look at what was out there. As I tracked the GPS on my phone, I suddenly found myself the small, quaint historic town of Haverhill Iowa. Upon entering Haverhill, I was greeted by rolling cornfields, old buildings and a prominent church steeple, which dominated the landscape. The surroundings were serene and beautiful. I pulled up across the street from old blacksmith's shop which was an old period building with faded wooded siding and a wooden shingle roof. I noticed that the door was open, so I walked in and saw that there was a man sitting on a chair. He greeted me and welcomed me to the Matthew Edel's blacksmith shop. I immediately noticed that this place was not a recreation, but the real thing. It glowed with the patina of days gone by. There was no flooring, only a dirt floor, rusty horseshoes hung from the ceiling, tools still laid where they were left back in 1940 when the doors were locked and the smell of metal and must hung in the air. My tour guide Pat Kopsa guided me through every inch of the Mathew Edel's world and showed me the fruits of his labor. During the tour it became apparent that Matthew Edel was a resourceful innovator, who served the farming community well during his life. The things that he created were carefully left in place for all to see, hand made pliers, horseshoes, gardening tools, and self styled tools invented by Matthew for use on local farms were all present.
His hands forged steal, the callus and blackened hands that swung the hammer, the man who toils in the forge, purveyor of goods and services, blacksmith, wheelwright, Ferrier, Inventor and jack of all trades, a rural renaissance man. Strong, resourceful, proud. That was Matthew Edel.
-G.C. Stevens
Matthews was an immigrant from Germany, who settled in Haverhill in 1883 where he built this shop and the house behind on a half-city block. Edel was an entrepreneur, operating a successful business and manufacturer operation. His hands forged steal: The callus and blackened hands that swung the hammer, a man who toiled in the forge, purveyor of goods and services, blacksmith, wheelwright, Ferrier, Inventor and jack of all trades, a rural renaissance man who was strong, resourceful, proud. That was Matthew Edel. During World War I, Edel also added an automobile service garage to the west end of the blacksmith shop. When Edel died in 1940, his family closed the blacksmith shop and left it intact but idle until the Edel family donated it to the state of Iowa in 1986. It remains a rare example of an authentic 19th-century blacksmith shop. A new building to the west is a working blacksmith shop constructed in 1996 with the help of volunteer blacksmiths. The State Historical Society of Iowa owns and manages the site which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
