Route 66 Museum Preserves Blacksmithing Heritage

Route 66 Museum Preserves Blacksmithing Heritage This year, Route 66 celebrates its 100th anniversary. A great place to visit is Oklahoma’s Elk City Museum Complex, which features the National Route 66 Museum, covering all eight states along the route, as well as the Farm and Ranch Museum and the Blacksmith Museum. The museums cover the people who lived, worked and traveled along the route. The Farm and Ranch Museum’s barn, shed and office were donated by the Western Oklahoma Historical Society. The museum is filled with old iron that covers many of the crops once grown in the area, such as broom corn and cotton. Along with the beauty of the vintage farm equipment outside the museum, there’s a stunning blacksmith shop founded by the late Bob Kennemer. After retiring in 1992, Kennemer established the Route 66 Blacksmith Shop. He contributed his collection of antique tools, anvils and forging equipment. Outside the blacksmith shop, you’ll find stunning examples of blacksmith work on display. Two notable examples are a Christmas tree and an artistic metal dome, both made from old horseshoes. Gathering the horseshoes was a long endeavor, with many coming from a feed lot in Adams, Okla. Others were donated by a game warden. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup: Elk City Museum Complex, 27217 W. 3rd St., Elk City, Okla. 73644 (ph 580-225-3542; www.facebook.com/elkcity.national.route66.museum.complex).

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