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  • Title: Alf's Blacksmith Shop
  • By: Caitlin Hibma
  • Location: Daggett, CA
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Alf's Blacksmith Shop was built and owned by my great great grandfather, Seymore Alf, in 1890. It is located in Daggett, CA, along Route 66 east of Barstow. Some of the famous 20 Mule Team wagons that hauled borax out of the desert were built at and operated from the shop. Later, Seymore went into road building and used his mule teams and scrapers to grade long sections of Route 66 through the Mojave, particularly the segment from Barstow to Needles. A 1911 newspaper article called him the "pioneer road master of the desert country.” His blacksmith shop still stands and is preserved almost exactly as it was in the 1890s; tools, forge, and all. It is a California Point of Historical Interest and I am currently working with the Daggett & Calico Historical Society to nominate it to the National Register of Historic Places!