Matthew Edel Blacksmith Shop and House facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Matthew Edel Blacksmith Shop
and House |
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Blacksmith Shop
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 Location in Iowa
Location in the United States
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| Location | 1st St. and 3rd Ave. Haverhill, Iowa |
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| Built | c. 1880 (shop) c. 1890 (house) |
| Built by | Matthew Edel |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian |
| NRHP reference No. | 83000391 |
| Added to NRHP | March 11, 1983 |
The Matthew Edel Blacksmith Shop and House are old buildings in Haverhill, Iowa, USA. This special place includes a blacksmith shop built in the early 1880s. There's also a garage added in 1915, a house from the early 1890s, and a summer kitchen. It's now a historic site run by the state.
Contents
The Story of Matthew Edel
Matthew Edel was born in Stuttgart, Germany. In 1873, he moved to the United States with his family. They settled in Effingham, Illinois.
Matthew's Inventions
While living in Illinois, Matthew invented a machine. It was called a wire-binder grain harvester. This machine helped farmers gather grain. He even got a patent for it, which means he officially owned the idea.
Matthew got money from his neighbors to build his machine. But another company, Deering Harvester Company, made a similar machine. Their machine became very popular, and Matthew's machine did not sell well.
Moving to Iowa
After this, Matthew moved to Iowa. He settled near Iowa City. There, he met Maria Hoffman.
In 1883, Matthew moved to Haverhill. He opened his own blacksmith shop. He married Maria that same year. They lived in an apartment on the second floor above the shop. Matthew and Maria had eight children together.
Growing the Business
As Matthew's business grew, he made the shop bigger. In the early 1890s, he built a two-story house. It was designed in the Late Victorian style.
There was also a summer kitchen on the property. We don't know exactly when it was built. But it seems to be from the same time as the shop and the house.
More Inventions
Matthew Edel was not just a blacksmith. He also invented many useful things. He got patents for several of his ideas.
Some of his inventions included:
- The Perfection De-Horning Clipper (1895)
- A fence stretcher (1899)
- The Perfection Wedge Cutter (1901)
- A type of nut pliers (date unknown)
- Edel's Garden Weeding and Cultivating Hoe (1924)
He sold his inventions to people across the Midwest and Northeast. Matthew also made metal grave markers. These were like the ones found in Germany. They are very rare in the United States.
Adapting to Change
Matthew kept his blacksmith shop open into the late 1930s. He knew he needed to change with the times. So, in 1915, he added car repairs to his business.
His son, Louis, went to Des Moines, Iowa to learn about fixing cars. Then, Louis joined his father in the business. Matthew passed away in 1940.
Louis Takes Over
Louis moved to Waterloo, Iowa in 1952. But he still took care of his father's blacksmith shop. He kept it almost exactly as Matthew had left it.
In 1964, Louis returned to Haverhill. He reopened the car repair shop part-time. In April 1978, Louis sold his tools at an auction. He then moved to Arizona, where he passed away the next month.
A Historic Site
The Matthew Edel Blacksmith Shop and House became a historic site. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. In 1986, Louis Edel's family gave the property to the State Historical Society of Iowa. Today, the society runs it as a special place for people to visit and learn.
