Gunsmith Ferd Hummel
Paducah, McCracken County, Kentucky
Marker Inscription
Gunsmith Ferd Hummel. Site of a one-story frame store, Hummel's Gunshop. He came here in 1861. Federal soldiers occupying Paducah in Civil War brought their firearms to him for repair. When the Confederates raided the city, March, 1864, they looted his shop, but he had secreted best arms in his home. Hummel, continuing as a gunsmith, was granted a patent on a breech-loading firearm in 1881.
Erected by Kentucky Historical Society
The Story
Gunsmith Ferd Hummel arrived in Paducah in 1861 and set up a small frame shop that soon served the Federal soldiers occupying the town, who brought their firearms to him for repair. When Confederate raiders looted his shop in March 1864, he had already hidden his best arms at home. He carried on his trade for years, earning a patent for a breech-loading firearm in 1881.
Why it matters
Hummel's shop shows the ordinary tradesmen caught up in a border-state war, and how frontier craftsmanship could evolve into the patented invention of the industrial age.
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Related people
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Themes & tags
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