{"nrhp_refnum":"73002159","name":"Glidden, Joseph F., House","other_names":[],"category":"building","location":{"address":"917 W. Lincoln Hwy.","address_restricted":false,"city":"De Kalb","county":"DeKalb County","state":"IL","lat":41.94068898800003,"lon":-88.77045132899997,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1973-10-25","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Industry","Invention"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A two-story brick house at 917 West Lincoln Highway in DeKalb, Illinois, built in 1861 for Joseph F. Glidden by Jacob Haish. A later amendment adds a historic brick barn on the same property.","why_significant":"The house was the home of Joseph Glidden, who invented barbed wire in 1873 and experimented with it in the house kitchen. The invention was important to settling the treeless Trans-Mississippi West. The barn is also tied to the first manufacture of barbed wire in 1873-74.","narrative":"Built in 1861, this two-story brick house in DeKalb, Illinois, was the home of Joseph F. Glidden, inventor of barbed wire. Jacob Haish, later Glidden's rival in the barbed wire business, built it. It has a raised fieldstone foundation, a long front porch, a low gable roof with end chimneys, and a decorated boxed cornice. Its walls are one foot thick and made of locally fired brick. In 1873 Glidden worked out his barbed wire method in the kitchen, using a coffee mill to form barbs and a grindstone to twist the wires. Barbed wire later allowed settlers on the treeless western plains to fence crops and livestock. Glidden and Isaac Ellwood opened the first barbed wire factory in DeKalb in 1874. A later amendment added the property's brick barn, where early barbed wire was made in 1873-74. The property was listed for its connection to this invention.","period_of_significance":"1861-1873 (19th century; house built 1861, barbed wire invented 1873)","architect_builder":"Jacob Haish (builder of the house)","architectural_style":"Barn classified as Other: Transverse Frame; the house has no style stated","criteria":[],"status_note":"Originally a private residence in good condition, with a florist business and greenhouses adjoining. The 2002 amendment lists the barn property as public-local with current function \"Work in Progress\".","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.322877-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/28/8927/28892728/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/73002159.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73002159/5768e8b9cc-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/73002159/5768e8b9cc-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY 2.5","author":"Andy McMurray","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Glidden_House1.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Andy McMurray</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY 2.5</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Glidden_House1.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892728","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_F._Glidden_House","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6282977"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/dekalb-county/glidden-joseph-f-house-73002159/"}