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According to family history provided by Anna Byerts and Grace Snelbaker, Henry Neiman blacksmithed at the crossroads of Davidsburg and West Canal Roads. Mr. Neiman and his family lived in the log house at this site with his blacksmith shop to the rear of the property. Henry was told he would probably have more business if he moved to Dover Borough since the Borough was central to the agricultural area. In the early 1920's Mr. Neiman purchased the property from Lewis Harlacher (of Washington Township) and the blacksmith shop at the corner of Queen Street and Locust Street (later to be named Butter Road). Mr. Neiman had the shop 'rolled back' to the rear of this property in order to have a Sears Roebuck home built on the corner. The Neiman family moved into this new home in 1925. Occasionally, school classes would visit his blacksmith shop and he would demonstrate blacksmithing. Illness forced Mr. Neiman to retire in 1949.
In more recent years, this property was a favorite site to visit during the Dover Borough Historical walk hosted by Kay Stitley for third graders from the Leib Elementary School. The students were always fascinated by the shop and had a desire to see the shop reborn and working again.
In February 2003, a heavy snow storm caused the collapse of the blacksmith shop. Mrs. Darlene Kann, the current property owner of 61 Queen Street in Dover, donated the blacksmith shop to the Greater Dover Historical Society (GDHS) as she recognized the historical value of preserving the shop. An agreement between the Kann Family and the GDHS was signed on May 16, 2003. Volunteers from the GDHS dismantled the blacksmith shop in May 2003. The rebuilding of the shop by GDHS volunteers, under the expert guidance of Ken Brown, construction project foreman, began in April 2005 and ended in October 2006.
Ted Ziegler of Wellsville is our in-house smithy. The blacksmith shop is open to the community on various occasion during the year - such as our annual Dover Borough Historical walk held the 3rd Tuesday in June.
The GDHS is extremely proud of our first major project completed by the society and its membership with the support of our local community. We, the Greater Dover Historical Society, present to you The Dover Blacksmith Shop.