John Deere House and Shop facts for kids
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John Deere Home and Shop
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The 1836 John Deere House.
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 Location in Illinois
Location in the United States
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| Location | Illinois and Clinton Sts., Grand Detour, Illinois |
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| Area | 4 acres (1.6 ha) |
| Built | 1836, et al. |
| Architect | John Deere (House) |
| Architectural style | Vernacular |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000327 |
Quick facts for kids Significant dates |
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| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | July 19, 1964 |
The John Deere House and Shop is a special place in Grand Detour, Illinois. It's famous because this is where John Deere invented the first successful steel plow in 1837. This invention changed farming forever!
Today, you can visit the site. It has John Deere's old house, a copy of his original blacksmith shop, and a gift shop. There's also a cool exhibit that shows where his first shop was found underground. The John Deere House and Shop is a very important historical site. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
Contents
The Story of John Deere and His Amazing Plow
John Deere's Journey to Illinois
In 1836, a man named John Deere moved from Vermont to Grand Detour, Illinois. He was a blacksmith, which means he made and fixed things out of metal. His friend, Leonard Andrus, had started the town. Grand Detour needed a blacksmith, so John Deere quickly set up his shop.
A Problem for Farmers
Back in Vermont, John Deere made plows from cast-iron. These plows worked well in the sandy soil there. But the soil in Illinois was different. It was thick and wet, like sticky mud. When farmers used the old plows, the soil would stick to the blade. They had to stop often to scrape it off. This made farming very hard and slow.
John Deere's Big Idea
John Deere saw this problem and wanted to help farmers. He thought about how a shiny steel pitchfork moved easily through hay and soil. He wondered if a plow could do the same thing. He had learned about polishing metal from his mother, who was a seamstress and polished sewing needles.
By early 1838, John Deere had created his first steel plow. It was smooth and shiny, so the sticky Illinois soil slid right off! He sold his first plow to a local farmer named Lewis Crandall.
How the Steel Plow Changed Farming
Lewis Crandall loved his new plow and told everyone about it. Soon, John Deere had many orders! By 1841, he was making 75 plows each year. His invention made it much easier to farm large areas of land in places like Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. This helped farmers grow more food for everyone.
Visiting the John Deere Historic Site
The John Deere Historic Site in Grand Detour, Illinois is a fun place to explore. It's run by the John Deere Company.
What You Can See at the Site
The site has five main parts. Outside the main area, there are 2 acres of restored prairie land. Inside the fenced area, you'll find:
- A copy of John Deere's original blacksmith shop.
- John Deere's actual house.
- A visitor center, which is also a gift shop.
- A building that protects the spot where archaeologists found John Deere's first shop.
The Blacksmith Shop
The blacksmith shop you see today is a perfect copy of John Deere's original one. It was built after archaeologists found the exact spot of the first shop in the 1960s. Inside, you can watch a modern blacksmith use old tools and a hot furnace. They show you how John Deere would have worked.
The Visitor Center
The visitor center is inside an old house built in 1843 by one of John Deere's neighbors. It's now a gift shop where you can find souvenirs. You can also see an original clock that belonged to the Deere family!
The John Deere House
John Deere built his house in 1836 when he first arrived in Grand Detour. As his family grew, he added more rooms. The house is filled with furniture and items from the 1800s. It looks just like it would have when the Deere family lived there.
The house has two floors. There are four rooms downstairs and two rooms upstairs. Each upstairs room has its own staircase. People think one upstairs room was for John Deere's helpers, called apprentices. The other was likely a bedroom for his children.
The front door opens into the living room. This room was part of the first building, which was just one room. It was used for everything: cooking, living, and sleeping! Later, John Deere added a bedroom downstairs for him and his wife, and an upstairs loft for the rest of the children. The Deeres moved out of this house in 1847.
The Original Shop's Discovery
John Deere's first blacksmith shop is no longer standing. But in 1962, a team of students from the University of Illinois asked the Deere Company if they could dig for it. They found the exact spot where John Deere developed his famous steel plow in 1837!
This important dig site is now protected inside a building called the pavilion. Around the site, you can see museum exhibits. These include old tools, newspaper clippings, and photographs from the time.
Archaeologists used a special tool called a magnetometer to find where the forge (the hot furnace) was in the original shop. Because of this, the new replica shop looks exactly like the original inside and out.
Why This Site is Important
The John Deere House and Shop is very important to history. It shows how one invention can change farming, business, and industry. It was named a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1964. This means it's a place of national importance.
The site is special because it's connected to John Deere, who started the famous John Deere Company. His invention of the steel plow helped farmers across the United States. It made it possible to farm huge areas of land that were once too difficult to work. When the National Register of Historic Places was created in 1966, the John Deere House and Shop was one of the very first places added to the list.
