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 historic place in Grand Detour, Illinois. This is where John Deere invented the first successful steel plow in 1837. This invention changed farming forever!
Today, the site includes John Deere's old house and a copy of his original blacksmith shop. There's also a gift shop and an area where you can see where archaeologists dug up his first shop. The John Deere House and Shop is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was also named a National Historic Landmark, which is a very important title.
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The Story of the Steel Plow
In 1836, John Deere moved from Vermont to Grand Detour, Illinois. His friend, Leonard Andrus, had started the town. Grand Detour needed a blacksmith, which was John Deere's job. Within two days, he had set up his shop and started working.
In Vermont, Deere made plows from cast-iron. When he first came to Illinois, he made the same kind of plows. But the soil in Illinois was different. It was thick and wet, unlike the sandy soil in Vermont. The sticky Illinois soil would cling to the plow blade. Farmers had to stop often to scrape it off. This made plowing very hard work.
John Deere realized there had to be a better way. One story says he noticed how polished steel pitchforks moved easily through hay and soil. He thought a plow made of polished steel might work the same way. He had learned about polishing steel by helping his mother, a seamstress, polish sewing needles.
By early 1838, Deere finished his first steel plow. He sold it to a local farmer named Lewis Crandall. Crandall loved the new plow and told everyone about it. Soon, two neighbors ordered plows from Deere. By 1841, he was making 75 plows each year. By 1876, he was making 100 plows annually! His invention made farming much easier in the Midwest.
Visiting the John Deere Historic Site
The John Deere Historic Site in Grand Detour, Illinois is a fun place to visit. The John Deere Company takes care of it. The site has five main parts. Outside the main area, there are two acres of restored prairie land. This shows what the land looked like long ago.
Inside the fenced area, you'll find a copy of John Deere's original blacksmith shop. There's also John Deere's house and a visitor's center. The visitor's center is also a gift shop. Another building protects the spot where archaeologists dug up the original shop in the 1960s.
The replica blacksmith shop looks just like Deere's first shop. You can often see a modern blacksmith giving demonstrations there. They use old tools and a real open furnace, just like John Deere did! The visitor's center is inside an old house from 1843. It was built by one of Deere's neighbors, William Dana. Inside, you can see an original clock from the Deere family. The gift shop also has many interesting items. The whole site is managed by employees of the John Deere Company.
The John Deere House is the most important part of the site. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was also named a National Historic Landmark in 1964. This means it's a very important place in American history.
John Deere's Home
John Deere built his house in 1836 when he first came to Grand Detour. As his family grew, he added more rooms to the house. The house is decorated with furniture and items from the 1800s. This helps visitors imagine what life was like for the Deere family.
The house has two floors. There are four rooms on the main floor and two rooms upstairs. Each upstairs room has its own staircase. People believe one upstairs room was for Deere's apprentices (young workers learning the trade). The other upstairs room was likely a bedroom for the children.
When you enter the house, you step into the living room. It has polished wood and furniture from the 19th century. This room was part of the original house, which was just one room at first. This single room served as the family's kitchen, living room, and bedroom! As his family grew, Deere added a bedroom downstairs for him and his wife. The upstairs rooms were then used for the rest of the children. The Deere family lived here until 1847, when they moved to Moline, Illinois.
The Blacksmith Shop Site
The original blacksmith shop where John Deere invented the steel plow is no longer standing. However, in 1962, a team of students from the University of Illinois wanted to find it. They asked the Deere Company if they could dig at the site.
The team found the exact spot where John Deere's original blacksmith shop stood! This was where the first successful steel plow was made in 1837. Today, this important dig site is protected inside a building called the pavilion. Around the site, you can see museum exhibits. These include old tools, news articles, and photographs from the time.
There is also a replica blacksmith shop on the site. Archaeologists used a special tool called a magnetometer to find where the forge (the furnace) was in the original shop. Because of this, the replica shop looks exactly like the original inside. The outside of the building is also the same size as the first shop.
Why This Site is Important
The John Deere House and Shop is very important to American history. It shows how much farming, business, and inventions changed our country. It was named a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1964. The U.S. Department of Interior gave it this title. This is because of its connection to John Deere, who started the famous John Deere Company.
John Deere's invention of the steel plow was a huge deal for the entire United States. It made it possible to farm large areas of land in states like Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. This helped feed many people and grow the country. When the U.S. 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. It joined on October 15, 1966, the same day the Register began.
