Local news stops by to learn more about the Foxfire class and what the foundations goals are.
Published: Jul. 26, 2025 at 4:00 AM EDT
WOODBURY, Ky. (WBKO/Gray News) -Deep within the heart of Kentucky, the Hershel House Woodbury School has dedicated itself to preserving a part of our nation’s past.
Students are learning and living history by forging metal, carving wood and mastering the centuries-old art of building flint lock rifles from scratch.
“It all really kind of started with Hershel,” said instructor Gary Ludwig. “He, at a young age, was fascinated by muzzle-loading rifles and he started a career of building guns on his own, learning the old ways to build guns instead of all the power tools. Everyone in the class is making the same gun, along the same lines, along the same ways that Hershel would have built that gun.”
The long rifle was a muzzle-loaded weapon that was used as far back as the 1700s for hunting and warfare on the American frontier.