Joseph F. Glidden House
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Joseph F. Glidden House
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The home of the most famous barbed wire inventor, Joseph F. Glidden.
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| Location | DeKalb, Illinois, DeKalb County, Illinois, USA |
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| Coordinates | 41°55′53″N 88°46′13″W / 41.93139°N 88.77028°WCoordinates: 41°55′53″N 88°46′13″W / 41.93139°N 88.77028°W |
| Area | less than one acre |
| Built | 1861 |
| Architect | Jacob Haish |
| Architectural style | French Colonial |
| NRHP Reference # | 73002159 |
| Added to NRHP | October 25, 1973 |
The Joseph F. Glidden House is located in the United States in the DeKalb County, Illinois city of DeKalb. It was the home to the famed inventor of barbed wire Joseph Glidden. The barn, still located on the property near several commercial buildings, is said to be where Glidden perfected his improved version of barbed wire which would eventually transform him into a successful entrepreneur. The Glidden House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1973. The home was designed by another barbed wire patent holder in DeKalb, Jacob Haish.
The property contains the house and two outbuildings; the barn and the remains of an old windmill foundation. Constructed in 1861, the Glidden House adheres mostly to a French Colonial style of architecture. The raised basement and full-length porch are two of the architectural elements found on the Glidden House that are consistently found in French Colonial homes. The barn, a building of high historical significance, was not included as part of the National Register listing for the property until 2002, nearly 30 years after the original nomination was approved.
The land that the Glidden House stands on is what remains of Joseph Glidden's once large DeKalb County farm. His holdings stretched along Lincoln Highway, both the north and south sides, from the Kishwaukee River in the east to present-day Annie Glidden Road on the west. The Glidden Farm went as far north as today's Lucinda Avenue. The farm's south border, near where Glidden would grant the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad right-of-way through DeKalb in the early 1990s was near present-day Taylor Street.
The two-story Joseph F. Glidden House is constructed from locally fired brick, which is relatively soft. The softness of the brick has caused it to weather in a non-uniform fashion. The brick is said to have been fired at a small brickyard which once existed on the Kishwaukee River in DeKalb, near the present-day Lincoln Highway bridge. The home stands on a stone foundation and was designed by local carpenter and eventual barbed wire competitor to Glidden, Jacob Haish. Construction was completed in 1861 and the home is a prominent example of Illinois French Colonial architecture.
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