Visitors gather at the annual May Day Festival at Blue Ox. Photo courtesy of Blue Ox Historic Village.
Blue Ox Historic Village is a nonprofit living history site located in Eureka, California, dedicated to preserving and sharing the traditional crafts and cultural heritage of the Victorian era. Founded by master craftsman Eric Hollenbeck nearly 50 years ago, Blue Ox is home to one of the last operating Victorian-era millworks in the United States, a working letterpress print shop featuring antique presses dating from 1900 to 1924, a working blacksmithing forge, ceramics shop, foundry, lapidary, and more. Through guided tours, hands-on workshops, apprenticeships, and educational programming, Blue Ox serves thousands of visitors, students, youth, and veterans each year — connecting them to the living traditions of Victorian craftsmanship that helped build the American West. Blue Ox Historic Village is a place where history is not preserved behind glass but practiced daily, passed from master to apprentice, and shared with anyone who walks through the gate.
Eric Hollenbeck showcases one of the historic tools used at Blue Ox.
The Last Shop: Documenting Victorian-Era Woodworking at Blue Ox
Blue Ox Historic Village will document three of California’s rarest Victorian-era woodworking machines through filmed demonstrations led by master craftsman Eric Hollenbeck. The films will preserve endangered craft knowledge for public access through on-site tours and YouTube, reaching future generations of craftspeople, students, and the general public.
Jim B. works in the blacksmith shop at Blue Ox. Photo courtesy of Blue Ox Historic Village.
Eric Hollenbeck demonstrating the 1890 Portland picket pointer. Photo courtesy of Blue Ox Historic Village.
Blue Ox woodshop interior. Photo courtesy of Blue Ox Historic Village.
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