Henry County Historical Society, Ohio Ranzau Blacksmith Shop

07/01/2026

Today, after posting about the grant, we have already received calls from folks who have blacksmithing tools, stories about their family of blacksmithing and photographs. Please consider donating any information about this craft to us so that we may honor it at our site.

07/01/2026

As reported in the Newspapers recently, the Henry County Historical Society received a grant from the State of Ohio that is substantial enough to make this very REAL. We are now 2/3 done to reaching our goal of dismantling the Ranzau blacksmith barn from Ridgeville Corners, Ohio to the Henry County Fairgrounds. We will rebuild the barn and fill with the donated machinery and tools that were in the barn plus other collections. Please consider donating to this Quest!. In addition the blacksmithing team of the Northwest Ohio Blacksmithing club will aid us as we reconstruct the "business" and begin teaching others the craft of "smithing".

01/28/2026

Many Thanks to the Henry County Fair Board for supporting the Henry County Historical Society at the Henry County Fairgrounds! We LOVE our space!!!!!
https://henrycountyfairgrounds.com/

01/28/2026

These are photos of our first day, packing tools and equipment for winter storage. It took trucks, trailers and labor to haul our treasures!

01/28/2026

The Ranzau Family of Ridgeville Corners, Ohio has recently donated a Workshop/barn filled with Blacksmithing machinery and tools. As part of the donation, the barn will be dismantled and moved to the Henry County Fairgrounds in 2026. Ground was broken in the fall of 2025. As you drive around the blacktop at the Fairgrounds, note the area that this barn will be positioned. We are excited to add this to our spaces.

01/28/2026

We are happy to partner with the Northwest Ohio Blacksmiths. They are giving us lots of advice and help identifying the inventory and helping us with the floor plan of the future Ranzau Blacksmith Shop.

Your local group of blacksmith enthusiast. We meet regularly to share our hobby and promote one of the oldest professions still in existence today! Established in 1983 our club has been around for over 4 decades.