In 1836, John Deere, a blacksmith recently transplanted from Vermont, set up shop in the small Rock River town of Grand Detour, Illinois. Deere, who was enterprising and innovative, met many disheartened farmers who were discouraged by their efforts to cultivate the sticky Midwestern soil.
Deere was convinced that the soil would shed itself from a plow that was highly polished and properly shaped. In 1837, using a discarded saw blade, he forged such a plow. His "self-polishing" plow grew in popularity, and as it did, so did the company that bears his name.
Today, visitors to the John Deere Historic Site features the home John Deere built, a gift shop, and an archaeological exhibit that shows the site of John Deere's original blacksmith shop.
