Glidden Homestead opens for season Sunday

DeKALB – The Joseph F. Glidden Homestead and Historical Center’s Opening Day, to be held from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday will give visitors their one chance all year to see the inside of the historic barn where “The Winner” barbed wire was invented.

The barn, located at 921 W. Lincoln Highway in DeKalb, between Burger King and Glidden Florist, is perhaps the most historically significant in the country, according to historic preservationist Roger Keys, because it is where Glidden invented and manufactured the first practical barbed wire. Glidden was granted a patent for “The Winner” on Nov. 24, 1874. It would become the most widely used barbed wire in frontier America.

Opening Day marks the opening of the site for the season. The house was completed around 1861, and the brick barn was built between 1861 and 1871. Glidden’s first barbed wire manufacturing office was located in the southeast corner of the barn. Keys, who has done much work on the homestead house and barn, will help give tours.

The Phineas Vaughan Blacksmith Shop at the Glidden Homestead also will be open and operating that day. Volunteer blacksmiths will provide a glimpse into living-history as they give demonstrations of the craft.

At 2 p.m. that day, a historical presentation, “Bertha Glidden Bradt: Socialite and Crusader in DeKalb County,” will be held in the homestead’s Welcome Center. Bradt’s great granddaughter, Cheryl Johnson, will tell stories and memories of the Bradt family with a bit of dramatic flair as she tells, from Bradt’s own notes, “Why Women Should Get Involved in the Community.” Bradt was Annie Glidden’s sister, the wife of Samuel Ellsworth Bradt, and the mother of DeKalb’s late Charles W. Bradt.

The Joseph F. Glidden Homestead and Historical Center is a nomprofit organization working to preserve the home and barn, while providing educational opportunities to the public. The house and Welcome Center are open from noon to 4 p.m. each Sunday, June through November, with a special event in December.

Admission is $4 for adults; children younger than 14 and homestead members are admitted free.

For information, call 815-756-7904, visit www.gliddenhomestead.org or visit J.F. Glidden Homestead & Historical Center on Facebook.