Step inside the Bally Blacksmith Shop in Grand Marais, Minnesota

Last updated on January 5th, 2025

If you’ve been to Grand Marais, Minnesota, you’ve probably seen the Bally Blacksmith Shop and wondered if it’s abandoned and what is inside. Unless you’ve gone ahead and taken a peek through one of the windows. In that case, you are probably wondering how you can get inside and take a closer look at all the cool old things in there!

The Bally family continued to add services to keep up with changing times!

While no longer in use, the Bally Blacksmith Shop isn’t abandoned. Today it’s a county museum that preserves almost 100 years of history. The original building is on the National Register of Historic Places and, along with a metal shed added by Bill Bally in 1960, serves as a repository for all sorts of interesting items that chronicle everyday changes over the course of the 20^th century.

You can go inside to take a closer look – but only on a handful of days each year.

Here’s what you need to know to plan your trip to the Bally Blacksmith Shop in Grand Marais!

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Bally Blacksmith History

Originally the owner of a blacksmith shop in Bayfield, Wisconsin, Sam Bally followed the lumber industry to Grand Marais in 1903. After several years working as a blacksmith for a sawmill, he decided it was time to go back into business for himself.

In 1911, he bought a plot of land right in Grand Marais, erected a wood building with a forge inside, and opened the S. Bally Blacksmith Shop.

The side of the blacksmith shop with part of the original sign and some recent repairs.

His shop would have been vital to a logging community where horses (and, thus, horse shoes) were in constant use and most tools and small equipment were made – and repaired – by hand.

With Sam’s death in 1922, the shop went to his son William. Bill ran the business for a few years before moving on to well drilling in 1929. But the business stayed in the family, with Bill’s brother Albert taking over. Albert was an electrical engineer and his son, another William, was a machinist who worked with his father before taking over the business himself in 1946.

This second Bill ran the shop longer than anyone else in the family. He even expanded the business in 1960 by setting up an old Forest Service building as a metal fabrication shop. This let him more easily work on modern automobiles and other modern equipment. He continued to work until 2009. Of course, by then he was working on many items that would have been unimaginable to his grandfather or even his father!

You can find Bally’s. . . by looking for large broken metal things – logging trucks, skidders, or boat trailers, leaning to one side, with an anxious looking owner pacing nearby or staring intently down into the guts of the stricken machinery. Bally’s Blacksmith Shop has been patching up every metal contraption that was still worth fixing, and some that weren’t, since 1911 when Sam Bally first started the business to service the local sawmill.

 Today, Sam’s grandson, Bill Bally, is the man in the smudged coveralls, holding the bright blue torch that you shouldn’t look at directly. Bill made the café’s outside chairs – all 60 of them. Production was dictated by how fast he could turn out the bent-metal, fish-shaped chair backs, a process he referred to as “working in the fish hatchery.” The seats were scavenged from old tractors scattered around farming country. . . . ” (from a notice once posted at the Angry Trout Café)

The blacksmith shop was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

The original blacksmith shop is a modest building with a large false front – very typical for the time.

Bill passed away in 2010. It was the end of the line for the shop as a local business. But, fortunately, not the end of the line for the shop as an intact piece of Grand Marais’ history.

In 2013 the Cook County Historical Society bought the site. Today the blacksmith shop is a museum. The fabrication shop behind it is still used for that purpose by the historical society. But it also contains many historic items and, like the blacksmith shop itself, is occasionally open as a museum.

What’s inside the Blacksmith’s shop?

It appears that the Ballys never threw anything out. That makes sense for a working blacksmith shop where you never know what you might be able to make use of someday. And it’s great for curious visitors because you’ll find almost a century’s worth of change documented mostly through tools and equipment.

“Since its founding, the Bally Blacksmith Shop has been the only blacksmith operation in Grand Marais. It has chronicled through its repair work the city’s general economic history, progressing from horse-drawn, lumber-camp equipment to motorized commercial fishing rigs to tourists’ automobiles and snowmobiles. (1986 National Register of Historic Places Inventory – Nomination Form)

The building has more than 1000 items inside, but it would be pretty hard to actually see ALL of them!

There’s no shortage of things to look at in the Bally Blacksmith shop.

The original forge is also still in place, although the vent was updated over time. But, looking at it today, you might think one of the Ballys just stepped away — either a few decades ago or a few days ago!

The forge didn’t change much over time while the collection of tools continued to grow . . .

But then, everything in the shop appears as if Bill just stepped away.

This isn’t your typical neatly arranged museum display, although there are a few signs explaining what some items are and how they were used. But, in general, the arrangement of items inside is probably pretty much what it was when this was an active business. Most items probably hadn’t been touched, let alone used, for several decades even before the Historical Society stepped into the picture. But things are organized enough that, should Bill have needed something stashed away decades earlier, he probably could have found it pretty quickly.

You never know when you might need to replace a faucet handle from 50 years ago!

While it might seem like a ridiculous amount of stuff to have on hand, many items in the shop were likely made by one of  the Ballys for a particular use. They would remain in the collection for the next time it was needed for its original use or a new one.

The blacksmith shop offers great photographic possibilities

Blacksmiths and history geeks with a fascination for old tools aren’t the only ones drawn to the Bally Blacksmith Shop.

It’s also popular with photographers. Both those interested in historic tools and equipment, as well as those just looking to create unusual photographs!

Window light transforms a piece of machinery and a set of large drill bits.

The metal fabrication shed is a bit more modern

Sam Bally designed his blacksmith shop to allow a carriage pulled by two horses through the entrance, with plenty of space for a horse to stand while getting new shoes.

But it wasn’t wide enough for modern automobiles, hence the addition of a larger metal fabrication shop.

A building for working on automobiles and modern equipment was added in 1960.

It’s actually a repurposed Forest Service building that Bill Bally moved to the site in 1960.  While it is old enough for its own designation as a historic structure, it’s also still used by the Cook County Historical Society as a repair shop and seasonal storage area. And, of course, it’s filled with items left here by Bill Bally!

Like the blacksmith building, this one also has a wide range of items of varying vintages.

This building is usually open when the blacksmith shop is open. You’ll find a variety of tools, parts, and pieces inside, along with a variety of equipment, as this is still used for storage and repairs. Among the collection displayed here is a privately-owned version of a home-made Caterpillar-type tractor.

The Ballys used this 1927 Fordson tractor with its added tracks. 40 years after they abandoned it in the woods, another Grand Marais resident restored it. (Apparently, it runs just fine.)

Blacksmithing demonstrations

Although the Bally Blacksmith site is more than a blacksmithing museum, the blacksmith’s art is a central focus. And there still are working blacksmiths, although few are creating items for every day needs.

For safety reasons, the forge inside the blacksmith shop is never used anymore. However, the yard between the two buildings hosts occasional blacksmithing demonstrations. These feature smiths using portable forges and a variety of equipment and techniques to create items that are functional, works of art, or both.

A contemporary blacksmith at work during a blacksmithing demonstration in Grand Marais.

(Want to learn the art of blacksmithing? Classes are offered on the other side of town at the North House Folk School!)

When can you go inside?

Here’s the sad part: You can only get inside the Bally Blacksmith Shop a few times a year.

While you can always walk by and peek in the window, the blacksmith shop is usually open in the afternoon on one weekend in July, August, and September. A blacksmithing demonstration is also usually held one afternoon on each of those weekends.

The metal fabrication shop is usually also open when the blacksmith shop is open. However, it’s getting updated electrical and heating systems this year (2024). Depending on when those occur, it might not be open even when the blacksmith shop is open.

If you want to actually step inside this time capsule, watch the Historic Cook County webpage for this year’s schedule.

Other Cook County historic sites in Grand Marais

The Cook County Historical Society operates five sites, some of which are only open seasonally and/or on a very limited basis. In addition to the Bally Blacksmith site, add these sites to your vacation plans:

Cook County History Museum

The Cook County History Museum is housed in a former lighthouse keeper’s home. It was built in 1896 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Museum exhibits focus on maritime traffic along the North Shore and the Civilian Conservation Corps.

The History Museum is open a few days a week throughout the year.

Chippewa City Church of Saint Francis Xavier

The Church of Saint Francis Xavier, commonly called the Chippewa City Church, is located at the edge of Grand Marais where a vibrant indigenous community once flourished.

Interior of the historic Chippewa City (Saint Francis Xavier) Church

The Chippewa City Church is open occasionally in summer and early fall. It too is going to be undergoing restoration work in the next year or two.

Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery

This wonderful little art gallery features ever-changing exhibits mostly of work by regional artists or work that focuses on the region, although you can find national artists as well. The permanent exhibit features the work of Anna C. Johnson, a Grand Marais pioneer and artist. Her work is both lovely to look at and an entryway into life in Grand Marais in the first half of the 20^th century.

The building itself was constructed in 1990 to look like the original trading post that once sat on this site.

The Johnson Heritage Post Art Gallery is open a few days a week throughout the year.

Replica 1930s Fish House and Fishing Tug Nee-Gee

The replica fish house exhibits commercial fishing gear, tools, clothing, and a small locally-built boat. Nearby, the Nee-Gee fishing tug was also locally-built. Built by James Scott in 1935-36, it was one of only four of this type of boat in Cook County.

Both the fish house and the Nee-Gee can be viewed daily in Grand Marais Recreation Park through the summer and fall.

Plan your trip to Grand Marais and the Bally Blacksmith Shop

Grand Marais is located north of Duluth along Minnesota’s scenic Lake Superior North Shore. It’s the North Shore’s artsy heart with a range of shops, services, dining, lodging, activities, and festivals. It’s wildly popular during summer and fall, so make lodging plans well ahead of time if you are traveling then.

Duluth is about 2½ hours (around 160 miles) northeast of Minneapolis. Grand Marais is another 110 miles northeast of Duluth. That’s at least a 2-hour drive – if you don’t make any stops and traffic is light. But the drive up the North Shore on Highway 61 is mostly gorgeous. So, give yourself at least a little time to enjoy some of Minnesota’s most beautiful and iconic sites! (I’ve never driven from the Twin Cities metro to Grand Marais without at least one overnight stop along the way – there’s just too much to see!)

See more things to do along Lake Superior’s North Shore and the Gunflint Trail.

When is the best time to visit Grand Marais and the Bally Blacksmith Shop

Obviously, if you want to get inside the Bally Blacksmith Shop you need to plan your trip for those handful of summer and early fall weekends when it is open. (Check the schedule!)

Where to stay

Grand Marais has a full range of lodging, but the total amount is rather limited. And it all tends to fill quickly at almost any time of year.

The easiest way to see what’s available is to check reviews and prices for your travel dates on Trip Advisor or Expedia. And don’t forget to check Vrbo for vacation rentals – although few are right in town.

Or do it the old-fashioned way and scan through the lodging listed on Visit Cook County MN and contact the ones you are interested in directly through their website or via telephone.

I haven’t actually booked a room right in Grand Marais in years. We usually stayed with friends who lived nearby or on a sailboat . . . or 20 minutes down the road at Cascade Lodge in Lutsen.

Cascade Lodge

You have to be pretty quick to snag a cabin at Cascade Lodge. However, updates in recent years have greatly enhanced the hotel rooms in the main lodge, making them a good option for a night or two. And, as always, the public spaces in the main lodge are very welcoming and comfortable.

Check reviews and book your room on TripAdvisor or Expedia.

Inside the main lodge at Cascade Lodge

The downside is the short drive after dark if you want to stay in Grand Marais for dinner. Fortunately, the restaurant at Cascade Lodge is very good and often has live music on weekends.

Where to eat

Grand Marais has struggled to keep enough restaurants open to serve all their summer guests. It’s not that they aren’t trying, but the lingering effect of COVID on the workforce, downtown fires, and housing costs make it a much bigger challenge than in the past. Expect every place to be busy and dinner reservations are a must at some restaurants. And don’t plan to eat after everyone else – finding a restaurant still seating after 7 pm is a almost impossible. (Yes, even on weekends.)

But, once you do find a place to eat, you are almost guaranteed a good meal. For a town of this size, the percentage of really good restaurants is really high.

A few of my favorites:

• The World’s Best Donuts probably are exactly that. Be there before the doors open if you want to find out for yourself.
• The Gun Flint Tavern is a gorgeous spot to eat and drink. You’ll find interesting, delicious food in a wonderful Northwoods setting. And, if you time it right, you can enjoy live music and/or a view of the lake from the upper-level deck.
• The Fisherman’s Daughter at the Dockside Fish Market and the Angry Trout both feature the freshest Lake Superior seafood. In nice weather, the Angry Trout’s dock is the place to eat with a view of the lake.
• The Crooked Spoon Food Truck (Facebook) replaced the fine dining restaurant that had the best food in town before it burned down a few years ago in a fire that destroyed a couple of businesses. The food truck seems to have pretty limited hours, so I haven’t had a chance to try this version. But I expect the quality is just as high, even if the menu is much simpler.
• Voyageur Brewing has decent bar food and some really good beers. (But a crappy website.)

Other visitor favorites where you’re unlikely to go wrong include Sven & Ole’s Pizza and My Sister’s Place.

Indigenous land acknowledgement and further reading

The Bally Blacksmithing Shop and all of Grand Marais are built on the traditional, ancestral, and contemporary lands of the Indigenous community. These lands, including the tribal lands of the sovereign nation of the Grand Portage Band of Anishinaabe, were ceded to the U.S. government by the Chippewas of Lake Superior in the Treaty of 1854.

If you are interested in learning more about the local indigenous community during the time the Bally family was running their blacksmith shop, read Walking the Old Road by Grand Marais native Staci Lola Drouillard and published by the University of Minnesota Press.

You can see more images from the Bally Blacksmith Shop and Grand Marais in general on CindyCarlsson.com.