DeKalb’s old barbed wire factory: 6 facts about building at center of City Council debate

DeKALB – It’s no secret that DeKalb’s claim to fame largely lies in its forefather’s invention of barbed wire, and a downtown building at the center of city debate once described by city staff as “underperforming” may hold more meaning to the community than meets the eye, local historians said.

Glidden Homestead and Historical Center Executive Director Jessi Haish LaRue said barbed wire may hold a long, complicated place in world history, and rightfully so, but it’s for reasons beyond what one of its earliest inventors, Joseph Glidden, intended.

It’s LaRue’s opinion that that history deserves to be celebrated locally at the same time for giving the DeKalb community something to take pride in.

“To me, it’s an invention that had a purpose,” LaRue said. “It really put DeKalb on the map. It would have been just a small dot on the map otherwise. So, this history matters in that what would DeKalb be without it?

“It did transform and was used to fence-in in oppressive ways and was used in World War I, but that was kind of beyond the scope of these original barbed wire barons. Joseph Glidden was already deceased at that time. It’s not what the agricultural roots were here in DeKalb.”

In recent months, a 148-year-old building in the downtown area where barbed wire was formerly manufactured has become contentious between city leaders and the property owner trading barbs over the how to value the old barbed wire factory, 128 to 140 S. Second St., DeKalb. So much so that negotiations have hit a standstill, and the city has wanted to leverage the legal powers under eminent domain to try to acquire the rights to the building.

The city has announced its desire to buy the old barbed wire factory, demolish it and turn it into a parking lot.

As of Thursday, city staff now proposes that the building be acquired through condemnation depending on how the property owner responds to the latest offer derived from a third-party valuation, according to documents released by the city of DeKalb.

An independent appraisal of the old building done by Colliers International Valuation and Advisory Services of Chicago on July 26 proposed a market value sale price of $370,000, city documents show. A counter made previously on July 6 by attorney Mark Doherty on behalf of D-N-J Properties, which owns the building, asked the city for $475,000.

As the fate of the building heads to the City Council again Monday with a proposed vote on how to next proceed, here is a look at six facts you may not know about the history of DeKalb’s old barbed wire factory.

1. How old is the building? The 148-year-old building is the first factory in the world made solely for the manufacturing of barbed wire on a mass scale, according to DeKalb County History Center records.
2. When was barbed wire first patented? Spring 2024 will mark 150 years from the moment when Joseph Glidden patented the modern form of barbed wire. The Glidden Homestead and Historical Center plans to celebrate the 150th anniversary of him creating his barbed wire.
3. How popular was the original Glidden patent steel barbed fence wire? In 1874, there were 10,000 rods of steel barbed-wire fence made and sold, according to DeKalb County History Center records. In 1875, there were 600,000 rods of steel barbed wire fence made and sold. In 1876, there were 2.84 million rods of steel barbed wire fence made and sold, according to DeKalb County History Center records.
4. Despite some questions about its use, steel barbed-wire fencing has been adopted by more than 350 leading railroad companies in the U.S. and was taking the place of all other kinds of fencing, according to DeKalb County History Center records.
5. At 61 feet wide, 400 feet long and two stories high, the Second Street location is the main building of the old barbed wire company, according to DeKalb County History Center records. The shop was heated by about 6,000 feet of steam pipe, and each machine had a gas jet there. The building features a side track from the mainline of the Chicago and North Western Railroad, according to DeKalb County History Center records.
6. Glidden and Isaac L. Ellwood formed a partnership under the name Glidden & Ellwood. In 1874, the company produced 10,000 rods of barbed wire, largely by hand, according to the DeKalb County History Center records. Jacob Haish, another of DeKalb’s historic figures, also owned a barbed wire patent.