160 Unusual Things to See in Ontario ~ Sparta's Blacksmith Shop

We drove through Sparta on our way home (August 2011) and for the first time ever I saw that the little mud house was open.  Also known as Ye Olde Forge and Anvil, this little blacksmith's shop was built in 1827 of clay and straw by a Mr. Keller from England. The walls are very thick.  During the Mackenzie Rebellion of 1837, militia horses were stabled here. In 1944 E.A. Smith gave the building to the Sparta Sorosis Women's Institute, who used it as a meeting place for many years.  They turned it over to the Sparta Historical Society in 1995. It is currently being used as a museum; a very interesting little museum.