J. A. Johnson Blacksmith Shop

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.

From the record

“Johnson Blacksmith Shop is a historic commercial building in Rothsay, Minnesota, United States. It is one of Minnesota's most intact early-20th-century blacksmith shops, and still contains a large portion of its original, handforged equipment.”
Wikipedia article J. A. Johnson Blacksmith Shop, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 7 National Register listings published here for Wilkin County · listed in 1996 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Listed as. Johnson, J. A., Blacksmith Shop - the National Register files a house under its owner's surname.
Address. Jct. of Main Ave. W. and 2nd St. W., Rothsay, 56579
When was it listed? February 1996
Category. building
City. Rothsay city
National Register reference number. 96000174 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

3 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 3 fires within 5 miles of J. A. Johnson Blacksmith Shop between 2003 and 2013, burning about 2,860 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Smoking	1
Equipment and vehicle use	1
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
10 May 2013	Equipment and vehicle use	5.0 acres	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named
7 October 2003	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	2,855 acres	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	ROTHSAY
23 October 2003	Smoking	under an acre	Minnesota Department of Natural Resources	not named

Every fire recorded in Wilkin County

Mines and quarries near this property

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of J. A. Johnson Blacksmith Shop: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where	Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
	Foxhome Pit and Mill	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
	Rasmussen Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer

Every working recorded in Wilkin County

Storms near this property

57 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Rothsay, the town this property stands in, in 57 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 38 thunderstorm wind, 13 hail, 4 tornado, 1 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
May 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	$50,000	no account filed
June 2002	Tornado (F2)	Rothsay	$25,000	A brief tornado touchdown demolished a 76x296 foot roof on a turkey barn.
July 1999	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	$5,000	A semi truck was overturned on Interstate 94.
May 2012	Flood	Rothsay	$5,000	no account filed
July 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	$1,000	Several large branches were blown down.
June 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	Measurement on 10 meter NDAWN sensor.
August 2023	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	Public reports 10-inch healthy tree blown down in Rothsay. Time estimated from radar, wind gust estimated.
June 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	Peak wind was measured at a MNDOT RWIS station along interstate 94.
July 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	Peak wind was measured by a MNDOT RWIS station located along Interstate 94. Large tree branches, 6 to 10 inches in diameter, were snapped around the town of Rothsay.
June 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	A Minnesota DOT RWIS station measured this wind gust.
June 2021	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	Rothsay RWIS measured a 64 mph wind gust.
August 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS mesonet sensor.
July 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	The wind gust was measured by a RWIS mesonet sensor.
July 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	Trees were blown down around town.
July 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	The wind gust was measured by a RWIS mesonet sensor.
June 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	The wind gust was measured by a RWIS mesonet station. Local power outages also occurred.
July 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor along Interstate 94.
July 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor along Interstate 94.
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	The wind speeds were estimated.
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor.
September 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	Trees were blown down and a home was damaged.
June 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	Several large trees and power lines were blown down. Many three to six inch diameter tree branches were also broken off in town.
September 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	The wind gust was measured at the MNDOT RWIS site located along Interstate 94 outside of Rothsay. The local power company reported that localized power outages began around this time across northeast Wilkin County and northwest Otter Tail County, due to broken tree limbs falling across power lines.
August 2013	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	The winds were measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor along Interstate 94.
August 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	Numerous large tree branches were blown down around town. Power outages were also reported.
August 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	The wind gust was measured at the MNDOT RWIS site along Interstate 94 near mile point 37.
August 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	Numerous three to four inch diameter tree branches were blown down on and near highway 9.
July 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	The strong wind gusts were measured by a MNDOT RWIS site.
July 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor along Interstate 94.
August 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor northwest of Rothsay. Stronger wind gusts may have occurred shortly after, but the power failed.
July 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor.
June 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	Many large tree branches were broken off in shelterbelts.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor.
August 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	Numerous trees were blown down or snapped off at a rural farmstead. A steel grain bin was blown off its pad and was rolled about 100 yards into a grain field east-southeast of the farmstead.
August 2005	Tornado (F1)	Rothsay	-	A torrnado briefly touched down and tracked eastward for about one-quarter of a mile across the north edge of a farmstead. Numerous trees were snapped off or uprooted. A 12x48 foot mobile home was flipped onto its top and destroyed. The mobile home had been resting on its transport wheels in an east-west orientation and was not anchored. It was flipped about 25 yards to the northeast and landed in a north-south orientation. Peak winds were estimated at 110 mph.
August 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	Grain bins were tipped over and many large trees were blown down in Akron Township, section 13.
August 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	The wind gust was measured by a MNDOT RWIS sensor.
August 2005	Flash Flood	Rothsay	-	Excessive rainfall and overland flooding damaged the Rothsay High School.
September 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	Large tree branches were blown down along the Wilkin/Otter Tail County line.
May 2004	Tornado (F0)	Rothsay	-	Three funnels formed and one briefly touched down.
August 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	The Rothsay MNDOT RWIS site reported a 58 mph wind gust.
August 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	A 71 mph wind gust was measured at the MNDOT RWIS site near Rothsay.
August 2004	Tornado (F0)	Rothsay	-	A brief touchdown was seen from the Rothsay truck stop.
June 2016	Hail	Rothsay	-	no account filed
June 2016	Hail	Rothsay	-	no account filed
August 2008	Hail	Rothsay	-	no account filed
August 2005	Hail	Rothsay	-	no account filed
August 2005	Hail	Rothsay	-	no account filed
May 2004	Hail	Rothsay	-	no account filed
August 2002	Hail	Rothsay	-	no account filed
July 2001	Thunderstorm Wind	Rothsay	-	no account filed
August 2001	Hail	Rothsay	-	no account filed
August 2000	Hail	Rothsay	-	no account filed
August 1999	Hail	Rothsay	-	no account filed
July 1998	Hail	Rothsay	-	no account filed
June 1998	Hail	Rothsay	-	no account filed
June 1996	Hail	Rothsay	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Wilkin County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 96000174 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Wilkin County	All 7 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.