Blacksmith Shop (1763-1797)

While today the area for the Blacksmith Shop is a grassy lawn decorated by Mr. Madison’s Temple, in the 18th century the scene would have been very different.  Following the acquisition of the Montpelier property by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Montpelier archaeology department carried out surveys of the area around Mr. Madison’s Temple. This surveys revealed hundreds of pounds of iron slag, iron artifacts such as lock and gun parts, nails and horseshoes, and large amounts of iron scraps and wasters spreading over a two-acre area.

In the early 19th century, President Madison would remove the blacksmith shop to build the present-day temple and icehouse.  The soil removed from the excavation of the icehouse would then be used to cover the remains of the Blacksmith Shop and preserve it for future archaeological investigations.

Archaeologists recording soil profile from unit that revealed the buried layer of the blacksmith operation (dark soil layer below red clay overburden from excavation of ice house).