Demchuk Blacksmith Shop and House
Built 1927, Depicts 1929
A blacksmith shop was a critical service for the town and local farmers. This blacksmith provided services and goods that nearly everyone in the area relied on. Farmers brought their horses here for shoes or shoe repairs. They also brought farm implements and machines to the blacksmith for repairs and maintenance.
The blacksmith shop ran on the agricultural calendar (spring –harvest) with little work coming in the winter. The majority of the work performed was horseshoeing, repair of ploughshares and other farm implements, and wagon work. Unlike earlier years, John was not required to make many tools from scratch for customers. Hammers, axes, knives, were cheaper to buy from stores.
This shop was owned and operated by John Demchuk, who was trained as a blacksmith before immigrating to Canada in 1914. John farmed in the Lake Eliza district (19 km north of Myrnam) for 10 years before opening his shop in Myrnam in 1927 and moving his family to the house at the back of the lot. During his years farming, people came to him for blacksmithing services he offered out of a shop on his farm.
John, his wife Annie, and their son Bill lived in the two-room house behind the shop. This was common practice among business owners in the 1920s – utilizing their lot for both commercial and personal purposes. Both the shop and the house are wired for electricity.
