Take the opportunity to get an up-close look at the recent updates and changes at the Glidden Homestead and Historical Center.
From noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, visitors are welcome to tour the home where Joseph Glidden and his family lived when he created his most famous invention, see a working onsite blacksmith shop, and walk where Glidden walked.
Glidden’s brick barn, where archaeological excavation was recently completed, can be considered the monument for the invention of barbed wire, a symbol of innovation in the Midwest, the workshop of an iconic inventor.
In July, the program season resumes, in addition to tours of the historic site. Programs at Glidden Homestead are made possible in part by the Mary E. Stevens Concert and Lecture Fund.
Joseph Glidden developed barbed wire in DeKalb in 1873 and went on to patent numerous other inventions. Barbed wire production continued at the Homestead site through the winter of 1873 into the spring of 1874, when the operation moved into town.
The Glidden Homestead, at 921 W. Lincoln Highway, is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays or by special arrangement. Admission is $4 an adult and free for children younger than 14.
For information, visit www.gliddenhomestead.org, email info@gliddenhomestead.org or call 815-756-7904.
