Glidden Homestead and Historical Center opens for the 2016 season

See the place that everyone is talking about and join in digging up the past. Glidden Homestead and Historical Center opens for the programming season and visitor tours of the site on Sunday, May 15. Members can preview the site on Saturday, May 14.

Visitors can see the ongoing archaeological excavation of Joseph Glidden’s 1870s brick barn and take a guided tour of the structure led by preservationist Roger Keys. Fun activities for children also will be available.

At 1 p.m. Saturday, Glidden Homestead members are invited to attend the preview of the 2016 season, “Digging Up the Past.” Saturday’s program will feature a talk by DeKalb County Community Gardens Director Dan Kenney and an early peek at the DCCG/Glidden Homestead partnership plans for the heritage flower beds in the homestead’s front lawn.

On Sunday, from noon to 4 p.m., the public is welcome to Opening Day, Open Barn to see the new aspects of the Homestead’s 2016 season, tour the Joseph Glidden’s Home where barbed wire was invented, see a working blacksmith shop, and visit the 1870s brick barn being excavated by archaeologists. In addition, the restored prairie that is growing in a location near the barn for the first time in 170 years is being dedicated at 1 p.m. and all donors to the ongoing restoration project up to that point will be recognized at the dedication ceremony.

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.

Glidden built the Glidden House Hotel in downtown DeKalb that opened in 1877. In June 1879, J.F. Glidden Publishing bought the DeKalb County Chronicle that had been started earlier that year. Glidden was mayor of DeKalb from 1881 to 1883.

A full season of programs highlighting "Digging Up the Past" continues at the Glidden Homestead in 2016. A tentative program listing can be found at  www.gliddenhomestead.org/events.html.

The Glidden Homestead, at 921 W. Lincoln Highway, is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays or by special arrangement.

For information, visit www.gliddenhomestead.org, email info@gliddenhomestead.org or call 815-756-7904.