Tom Cook's Blacksmith Shop

In the early 1870s, formerly enslaved blacksmith Thomas “Tom” Cook Sr., his wife Lethia Perry, and their children moved to Bolivar, Texas, to build a new life. Bolivar, founded in 1859, was a frontier town in North Texas that served a growing community of farmers, cowboys, and travelers.

Tom Cook's blacksmith shop was discovered during the widening of Farm-to-Market (FM) 455 in Denton County by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). Archaeologists were brought in to investigate the site during the winter of 2020–2021, leading to an in-depth excavation of the blacksmith shop and a neighboring 19th century hotel. TxDOT and the archaeological team partnered with Cook's descendants, professional blacksmiths, and the Denton County Black community to build a comprehensive picture of Cook's life.

Tom Cook initially worked for a blacksmith named James Barwis, but in 1882 he purchased the shop and began operating his own business. Over time he became a landowner, farmer, minister, Prince Hall Freemason, and community leader. The contents of Cook's shop tell us that he worked with a wide variety of the people who lived in and traveled through Bolivar. In addition to blacksmithing tools like knives, files, and tongs, there are farrier items for working on horses, broken wagon parts, and basic farming tools indicating that Cook did business with local farmers and ranchers as well as traveling cowboys along the Chisholm Trail.

At the time, Bolivar was a thriving community near the Chisholm Trail, a major route for transporting livestock from Texas to Kansas. The trail brought a steady stream of cattle drives and stagecoaches to Bolivar, which had general stores, a hotel, and tradesmen that served both townspeople and travelers.