In 1900, Oskar Holmberg partnered with Janne Johnson to build a successful blacksmith business in downtown Lindsborg, Kansas. Five years later, Johnson partnered with Alfred Lindblade to run a business that created fire escapes on numerous local buildings. Johnson continued operating the shop until 1954.

Local artist Erik Ephraim Malm, who would later gain notoriety when the Acme Company purchased and marketed his a decorative stenciling system, painted the facade sign shortly after the building’s construction. The building’s historic features include a stepped parapet, central sliding doors, and a forge, as well as hooks, rings, and window grills that clearly portray its original function as a blacksmith shop.  

When the current owner renovated the historic building, “peel and stick” solar panels were added to the new Energy Star rated ridged steel roof. The building was added on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009.

Now the home of Blacksmith Coffee Roastery, it is the social hub of downtown Lindsborg. Visitors sipping on their lattes can almost hear the clang of the steel hammer as the blacksmith pounds white-hot metal into horseshoes.