TAMAQUA - Don Campbell struck a glowing piece of metal with hammer, slowly flattening and rounding its form, inside the 1848 Hegarty Blacksmith Shop on Sunday afternoon.
"Anything you can do with clay, you can do with metal," said the Stockton man, who has served as the resident blacksmith for nearly three decades.
Campbell crafted a small, pointed leaf at the end of the 4- to 5-inch rod, which he artfully curved into circle to create a key chain.
The blacksmith shop served as one of the many attractions during the 28th annual Tamaqua Heritage Festival, an event celebrating fall, as well as the town's historical place as the "Gateway to the Anthracite Region."
The oldest operating business in Schuylkill County until it closed in 1973, the blacksmith shop on Hegarty Avenue was started by Thomas Hegarty in 1848, Campbell said.
Hegarty, who immigrated from Ireland, sailed into the port of Baltimore and came north to make his way in the coal fields, Campbell said. His worn and dented anvil still graces the small shop, where three generations of Hegartys worked, he said.
Donna DeBellis, Tamaqua, asked her 2½-year-old granddaughter, Hunter, what she thought of the smell inside the dark shop, where a small fire burned.
Hunter just stared.
"She doesn't know what to make of it," said DeBellis, who said they came out to support their community and enjoy time with family.
"We love the musicians and the train whistles," she said, but noted that her granddaughter wasn't too happy about the bellowing whistles that could be heard for blocks.
The Tamaqua Anthracite Model Railroad Club hosted an open house during the festival, displaying an HO model train layout, while Tamaqua Save Our Station displayed original newspapers from the Molly Maguire era in the borough's restored 1874 railroad station.
Numerous crafters and vendors displayed their wares through borough's National Historic District, which spans about seven blocks of the downtown.
The Tamaqua Historical Society Museum, which is located in the former First National Bank that was built in 1905, opened its doors for visitors. Numerous people milled about inside, stopping to examine photographs and exhibits.
Folks asked museum volunteers plenty of questions, said Walter Weston, one of the 45 or so members.
"People are coming not only from this area, but around the state," he said, "And they're into this history thing."
A few doors away at the Tamaqua Area Chamber of Commerce, a woman filled out a safety survey. More than 30 Tamaqua residents stopped in to answer the survey for a $10 gift certificate from Boyer's Food Market, said George Taylor, who manned the post.
The survey asked people how safe they felt in their homes and neighborhoods, as well as how they felt about companion issues, such as blight and garbage.
The first 200 families who participated at the chamber office or Tamaqua Cultural Center were eligible for the gift cards, Taylor said, and he had expected more folks to arrive. Quite of few senior citizens came in the morning, Taylor said, and few young families also participated.
Over at the culture center, more people participated, said Leona Rega, coordinator for the center and the Tamaqua Safety Initiative. Results will be shared with residents and businesses at a Community Conversation meeting at 7 p.m. Nov. 8 at the center.
A safety corridor from the 100 block of Pine Street to an area beyond the Five Points at Rite Aid has been identified, Rega said. People will also learn how to get help for neighborhood problems during the meeting, she said.
The festival, which included tours of the 1801 Moser log home at the rear of 302 E. Broad St. and an antique and classic car show on South Railroad Street, wrapped up about 5 p.m.