Illinois State Museum opens rural fence exhibit

Posted on July 8, 2018
Illinois State Museum
The Illinois State Museum is displaying the patent model fence as part of the Illinois Bicentennial. (Facebook/Illinois State Museum)

By RFD Radio Network

SPRINGFIELD – A new exhibit that recently opened in Springfield recognizes the state’s rural history.

Erika Holst of the Illinois State Museum explained the display is a patent model of a fence designed by Henry Rose of Decatur and is a precursor of a more famous invention.

“It was a thin wooden strip with spikes driven through it,” Holst said. “He showed his patent model at the DeKalb County Fair in 1873. A man named Joseph Glidden came to the fair and saw his patent model and got the inspiration for the barbed wire fence.”

The bicentennial exhibit at the Illinois State Museum will be on display through next February.

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