Hundreds of people flocked to The Museum of Appalachia on Friday to celebrate the Fourth of July with reenactments, demonstrations and live music. At the heart of the museum’s celebration were the hourly anvil shoots. Will Meyer, the museum's director of marketing called the shoots “pioneer fireworks."
“It was a way that people in southern Appalachia would celebrate special occasions, because fireworks weren't readily accessible,” he said.
The Museum of Appalachia has been holding Independence Day anvil shoots for nearly 50 years. Will’s grandfather, John Rice Irwin, founded the museum in 1969. Meyer said the anvil shooters on site are “home grown.”
“They've shadowed the folks that used to do it here 30 or 40 years ago, and they've learned their techniques and [are] constantly refining,” he said.
Will’s brother, John Meyer, who serves the museum’s special projects manager, is one of them. John said he’s been an anvil shooter for a couple of decades after watching countless anvil shoots as a child.
“The sound can be heard all the way up in Norris and the outskirts of Clinton," he said. “I remember as a young child actually seeing the fire trucks come because they thought there was an explosion. So now everyone is so accustomed to us doing it.”
The anvil shoot site was positioned in a grassy field surrounded by historic cabins and barns that show what a mountain village would have looked like hundreds of years ago.
John set up each anvil shoot by using a tamper to level out a small pile of gravel. He then placed a large anvil on the top of the pile upside down, which exposes its cavity. The cavity is filled with gunpowder and a fuse is attached. A flat plate is used to cover both the gunpowder and the fuse. Then, a smaller anvil, facing right-side up, is placed on top of the plate. Once John got the "all clear," he lit the fuse with the “hope it goes a long way.”
“And we've had some really good ones today,” he said. “They've gone a long way into the air. And that's always what the crowd wants.”
At the top of every hour, the crowds gathered behind safety ropes about 100 feet away from the anvils. When the gunpowder is lit, there’s a flash of white smoke and a loud bang as the anvils fly nearly 200 feet into the air. The sound of cheers and whistling followed.
Once staff lowered the safety ropes, guests walked over to see where the small anvil landed.
For many, this was their first time seeing an anvil shoot in action. Sherry Oliveira moved to East Tennessee two years ago, and says the event was a great way for her family to learn more about the region while finding a connection with their local community.
“We go out and try to see as much as possible and do as much as possible,” Oliveira said. “So I just said, ‘We're just gonna go. I want to see the anvil shoot.’”
Kris Light, another guest observing the anvil shoot, snapped pictures with her professional camera.
“We've lived here for 45 years, and I've never been here for this,” she said. “I'm a science teacher, so this is a really good way to show the third law of motion: for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction.”
