Name/Title
Bekken Blacksmith BuildingEntry/Object ID
2011.42.06Description
Photo of a square, two-story brick building with a low ramp leading to double-doors for horses to enter the ground-floor-level blacksmith workshop for shoe fitting. A Ford model A-style car is parked to the left of the doors. A sign over the door reads "H.M. Bekken, Horse Shoeing & General Repairing."
According to Jim Schmiechen in "Raising the Roof" first ed., pg. 17, "Herman Bekken's Blacksmith Shop, 1897 (photo ca. 1950) Washington and Wall Streets, Douglas. The last of the Douglas blacksmiths."
In 2022, a replica sign was hung on the building at 42 N. Washington St., Douglas. The original sign had been on display at the Saugatuck-Douglas History Museum since 2000.Photograph Details
Type of Photograph
NegativeSubject Person or Organization
Bekken, Herman M., Bekken, Gerald 1924-2021, 42 N. Washinton/Bekken Blacksmith ShopContext
"Bekken's blacksmith-shop structure still stands today, reminding us that in the days before the automobile the villages were kept on the move by the blacksmith who repaired and built carriages and wagons and shod the horses.2" -- "Raising the Roof" first ed., pg. 17.
"In the early 1920s H.M. Bekken Horseshoeing & General Repairing began. Herman Bekken married Jennie. They had four children: Everett, Howard, Mildred, and Gerald. The Bekken family lived above the blacksmith shop. Herman Bekken was one of three blacksmiths in the area. As a blacksmith he worked on plows, wagons, and mowing machines. He also sharpened plowshares, sickles, and other equipment. Farmers in the area also came to have the horses shod. Herman Bekken retired in 1960. He died on July 4, 1963.
Currently the upstairs of the blacksmith shop is used as an apartment for families and owned by Mr. Gerald Bekken, son of Herman Bekken. An addition was put on to the building and used as a garage for families that live in the apartment. Mr. Bekken now uses the original blacksmith shop for storage and restoration. The building sits as a quiet reminder of a simpler time in Douglas, MI."
-- https://bekkenblacksmithshopmckenzieandtyler.weebly.com/
Text by Saugatuck Middle School students Mackenzie Barnhill and Tyler Witzell, prior to 2015.
See 2000.01.01 for the building's sign.Collection
William (Bill) Simmons, Commercial businesses, Transportation: horse-poweredCataloged By
Voss, MaryAcquisition
Accession
2011.42Source or Donor
Simmons, William "Bill" R. 1890/1-1966Acquisition Method
DonationMade/Created
Artist
Simmons, William "Bill" R. 1890/1-1966Location
Filing cabinet
Files Accession NumberRelationships
Related Person or Organization
Person or Organization
42 N. Washinton/Bekken Blacksmith Shop, Bekken, Herman M.General Notes
Note
Status: OK
Status By: Mary Voss
Status Date: 2011-11-14Create Date
July 24, 2022Update Date
September 30, 2026