September 2021 Class - Blacksmithing in Corning, NY

The Heritage Village of the Southern Finger Lakes is a great small living history museum in Corning, New York. I am trying to take a class each time I am on a trip, and I came across this location when searching for a class. I found BLACKSMITHING!! Online, it showed a two-day course. That was a bit long for me, but for something as unusual as blacksmithing, I was game for it. I called the museum and the lady that I later learned is the brains of the operation, Soni, told me that due to COVID it was a bit more informal for scheduling. She told me she would contact Leon, and he would get back to me.

A day later, I got a call from Leon. He was super accommodating and told me that it would be a one-on-one course, and I could learn whatever I liked. I asked if he minded if it was only one day long, and he said sure! I showed up at 9am on our appointed day, and spent the next 7 hours with Leon, learning about the basics of blacksmithing.

The blacksmithing building was donated by a local about 12 years ago, It was originally built in the 1800s (Leon or Soni, if you read this – please send me a message and correct me.). The people volunteering for Heritage Village at the time worked with the landowner and moved the building to the Heritage Village site, then re-stocked it with blacksmithing tools, many of which were generously donated.

The class itself was great. We started with making a hook, which taught me about “drawing out” the metal, making a curly que, curving the metal, twisting the metal, and polishing it up. Very cool. Then we moved on to a pendant, which Leon said I did well, but it doesn’t quite look like a leaf like it was supposed to. He told me that leaves come in all shapes and sizes, and are not all perfect – thanks, that was very well said. We then broke for lunch, and had our bag lunches in the original building from the 1700’s.

During our lunchtime discussion, I learned a ton about the history of Corning, NY, and the history of the buildings on site. The main building was built by a land prospector – just after the Revolutionary War. Apparently, at that time, English people could not legally own land, so powerful Englishmen (Lords and such) just hired someone to come to America, become a citizen, and buy up a bunch of land on their behalf. This is what was happening here, and the man that was hired to do this job, Mr. Pulteney, built four rooming houses to accommodate others that were traveling and doing the same thing. This is the only one still standing.

Another disturbing thing I learned at lunch was that in 1972, due to Tropical Storm Agnes, most if not all the town was flooded. The building we were in was underwater almost to the top of the first-floor doorways! Later, while walking downtown, I saw markers on some building showing the height of the 1972 flood on their buildings. Leon said that his employer was shut down for over 3 months at that time, and everyone working there was put to work cleaning up the plant and getting all the mud out of the rooms, off the tools and out of the equipment! Yikes.

After lunch, it was back to the fire – where Leon taught me a new way to start a fire with some goofy paper folding trick that he does – and it WORKS! (And I thought I was just there to learn blacksmithing) After three nights of struggling with my campfire, I finally got it to get started!... but I digress. The last item we made was another hook, with a different type of finial on it. For each item, Leon worked a separate piece for a bit, then I took my turn to attempt to recreate what he had just done – it worked well! Soni stopped by to check on our progress a few times throughout the day. What a great place with awesome people! Worth stopping by!

The next day, I stopped in on the main street of Corning, Market Street, at the Finger Lakes Unique shop. This shop is full of local artists’ work, and I found some of Leon’s creations. While talking to the clerk at the shop, she told me he had just come in, and had told her to watch out for me. It was nice chatting with her, and I felt like I really made a connection while in town. I had a great time learning blacksmithing, but it was even nicer to make a few new friends. Thanks!

By the way, the Heritage Village site also has some hearth cooking classes that they offer – I was told that it is a great class! Maybe next time I’m in town that is what I will try. Heritage Village of the Southern Finger Lakes Living History Museum