This photo shows part of the Welk Homestead State Historic Site in North Dakota, overlooking the nearby lake. In the foreground, an American flag stands tall beside a small white outbuilding with barn-style doors and a shingled roof. To the left, a bright red windmill tower rises above the grassy grounds, with a picnic table set nearby. The open water and wide prairie horizon in the background highlight the peaceful rural setting where Lawrence Welk grew up, preserving the homestead’s historic farmstead atmosphere.

This reconstruction of Ludwig Welk’s first blacksmith shop was built in 1990 using the original location and dimensions.

Ludwig learned blacksmithing from his father back in South Russia, and he taught it to most of his sons here. Lawrence later claimed that he was the exception because Ludwig considered him too clumsy to learn! The Welks repaired tools and implements, welded broken plow shares, and shoed horses for their neighbors. They also made traditional wrought-iron grave crosses. At the time, iron crosses were considered a less costly alternative for families who could not afford headstones, but they’re now recognized as German-Russian icons.

The importance of blacksmithing to the Welks illustrates how North Dakota farmers survived and thrived by diversifying their income. Another example selling eggs and cream, as Christina and the girls did. Historians now recognize that this traditional women’s work may have been the single most reliable source of income for many Northern Plains farm families. On many family farms, it covered the costs of groceries and clothing.

The Welks did even more than this, though. Lawrence mentioned working on local road grading crews and earning spending money by trapping small animals. And most of the Welk men played music. Weddings have always been huge events in the surrounding German-Russian communities, and whoever was invited to play at the dance could earn sizable money. They would set out an open instrument case, and guests would generally try to motivate them to keep playing by dropping in more and more money as the night wore on. This is what eventually led Lawrence to his career in music.

During his first eight years at the Homestead, the Welks cultivated less than 20% of their land—between 10 and 30 of their 160 acres. Though they continued to expand this over the years, it illustrates how important their many other sources of income were to the success of the family. Then as now, farm families like the Welks succeeded by diversifying.