Post Office Box 801

Rough & Ready, California 95975

(530) 272-4320

The Fippin Blacksmith Shop

Built by carpenter John Single in 1849, Single rented the lean-to on the side of the shop to blacksmith John Fippin, who in 1867 married Single’s daughter, Julia.  It was John and Julia’s first born son, William H., who later ran the shop whose name you see on the building today.  As a blacksmith, Fippin repaired tools, buggies and wagons and shod horses and mules.

The building now is a display for artifacts from the 1850s such as tools, hardware and various wagon parts.  The original antique bellows heats a forge which our Rough and Ready Blacksmith demonstrates on Secession Days and during the Chili Cook-off. 

The Blacksmith Shop is

the site of the famed anvil

upon which young Lotta

Crabtree, befriended by the

famous Lola Montez, danced

to the applause of the local miners and

launched her successful entertainment career.

In recent years, the Fippin Blacksmith Shop has been restored, thanks to the fundraising efforts of the Fruit Jar Pickers.