DeKalb, IL – the Barb City.
After St Charles one heads due west through Main Street America on the route of the Lincoln Highway all the way to the Iowa state line at the Mississippi. There’s a reason for all these Illinois posts – these towns and cities on the Lincoln truly evoke the past.
DeKalb is most famous for its barbed wire manufacturing. The large red estate house in the pictures was the residence of DeKalb barbed wire entrepreneur Isaac Ellwood, now the The Ellwood House Museum. The pictures also include the more modest residence of Joseph Glidden, another key barbed wire figure and patent holder from DeKalb.
There’s a chapter in Bill Bryson’s very entertaining book “One Summer: America, 1927” which goes into the history of barbed wire and how it truly changed the western US – and that change was wrought in DeKalb.
There was a lot to see and photograph. Barbed wire museum. Northern Illinois University is in DeKalb. (Go, Huskies!) A real and untouristy main street. Very friendly locals (I had a good conversation with the fellow in the hat who was out for a morning walk and somehow we got to talking.) A lot of street art and murals. The extraordinary art deco Egyptian Theatre. Lothson’s Karry-Out Chicken.
Last but not least, among the most enjoyable café stops I can remember on the Lincoln last year, Common Grounds Books and Beans – that’s the proprietor, Jeff, posing in one of the photos with a regular. Super nice guy. Fine conversation. Great coffee and fair trade, too.
I could have spent more time in DeKalb.
Next in this set is a grouping taken in Rochelle in Ogle County, Illinois. Hub City. It’s called that because of its location at the intersection of several major transportation routes, including two major rail lines, namely the Union Pacific and BNSF Railway mainlines which meet there. Rochelle Railway Park is a must-see for trainspotters.
Finally, we’ll stop off at little Franklin Grove for a visit to the Lincoln Highway Association’s national headquarters!
