Sign 8 - Machine Shop, Blacksmith Shop & Carpenter Shop

The machine shop, blacksmith shop, and carpenter shop were lined in a row from east to west and stood just south of the 75-millimeter plant complex. Each provided much-needed support services for maintenance and repairs to machinery, wagons, trucks, trains, and buildings.

The machine shop had lathes, drill presses, grinders, shapers, and other tools to make vehicle parts, nuts and bolts, and metal pieces that needed to be custom fabricated. The blacksmith shop had a forge, likely coal or charcoal fired, to heat metal for making objects like gates, tools, wagon wheels and axels, and other implements from wrought iron or steel. The blacksmith may also have been responsible for making horseshoes for the stabled horses. The carpenter shop was filled with a variety of saws, planers, and drills used for the crafting, finishing, and repair of wooden objects. Although each tradesman had a separate function, it is likely they collaborated on projects when needed.

All three shops were interconnected by a rail line that ran through the middle of each building to facilitate the delivery of supplies. Nearly identical, each shop was one-story tall and had a gable roof topped with a clerestory that brought in plenty of natural light. The machine and carpenter shops were 80 feet long by 60 feet deep, while the blacksmith shop was slightly smaller, measuring 60 feet square. Today, all that remains are 10-inch thick concrete foundation walls that are 12 inches high and enclose concrete floors.

Since the munitions plant and Belcoville were being built from the ground up, the blacksmith, carpenter, and machinist were just three of the many tradesmen employed there. Electricians wired buildings, plumbers ran water and sewer pipes, masons poured concrete foundation walls and laid brick walls. Pile drivers sunk piles used for the foundations near the river, and ironworkers raised and welded metal framework.