John Deere Historic Site, Grand Detour

Me and my husband were on vacation and stumbled onto this attraction. We were not disappointed. Would recommend this if you're in the area. The blacksmith and the tour guide, were very knowledgeable and friendly.

FREE. Guided tours or self guided. Demonstrations of blacksmithing on certain days. Very cool and friendly. Great stop on a motorcycle. Lots of shade and places to rest of needed.

This is such a neat little spot. It’s free to anyone and they take you on a neat little tour through the home John Deere built and into the “Arc” building where they have preserved a piece of agricultural history! The spot where John Deere had his blacksmith shop along with some of the tools he used and thing he made. The staff is very knowledgeable and SUPER KIND! It was a neat little spot for our 15 and 11 year olds to experience. It probably takes about 2-3 hrs to go through if you get the full tour and visit all the shops: we were there on a slightly rainy day so we didn’t spend as much time looking around as we could have. So nice to see that someone is saving this important landmarks! This site marks the spot where the farming business really started stepping up it game and becoming what it is today!

The folks at John Deere Historic Site are great, friendly and helpful. I cannot possibly say enough good things about them. We go there at least every 2 years to demonstrate blacksmithing at the Hammer-In, and have been since Aug 2004. The site is picture perfect. Site blacksmiths are some of the best in the world. The museum display includes a movie in air conditioning, an archaeological dig of the original John Deere blacksmith shop, a replica of the 1837 self-scouring steel plow, and there is the original home, a working blacksmith shop, a gift shop, and gardens. Everyone should visit the Historic Site at Grand Detour.

We just visited ave it was a nice relaxing experience. 2 of my kids, 8 & 10 said it was fun. We were there about 2 hours ave not once did they ask to leave. The blacksmith shop was pretty cool. Dave the blacksmith is very nice ave kid too the kids. He is very talented in his art/skill as well.