City and State: Grand Detour, Illinois
Location: Meet at the front entrance of the John Deere Museum where maps will be available
to guide you to Grand Detour sites of interest
Date: Saturday, October 15
Time: Between 8am and 9am
Hostess: Jan Harvey
Hostess Cell: 815-946-3911
Hostess Email: RSVP PLEASE to [email protected] NEW EMAIL!
Rain Date: Saturday, October 22
Rain Time: Same as above.
About Grand Detour: It's a quaint village located along
the bend of Rock River. In time, the village became an
art colony and remains home to many artists. The John
Deere Historic Site is well known for old stone homes and stone church, boat dock and nearby
farmland.
About the John Deere Historic Site: A destination in itself, with archeological diggings,
blacksmith shop, early homes of that period, and sculpture of John Deere and the first steel
moldboard plow which he invented and produced.
The hours of the museum are 9am-4pm and the artist's entry fee has been waived
Time: between 8-9am at the front entrance of the John Deere Historic Site, 8334 S. Clinton
Street, Dixon, Illinois 61021. A map will be given to you of Grand Detour sites of interest in the
area.
Eagle’s Nest Plein Air Invitation
Artists will meet at the front entrance of the John Deere House and Shop, 8332 Clifton Street,
Dixon, Illinois 61021, from 8 – 9am. Our Eagle's Nest Plein Air group will host & greet you with
coffee and donuts. Yum!
Lunch
At Noon we will meet under the shelter near the blacksmith shop and restrooms
An OPTIONAL box lunch will be provided for $6. It will include a beverage; ham (or turkey),
lettuce, cheese, chips, fruit and cookies. To register for your lunch, please call Jan Harvey by
October 8 at 815-946-3911.
An option and opportunity for the artist: "The Next Picture Show”, a beautiful gallery in Dixon, Il
(just 5miles from Grand Detour) have welcomed the idea of showing and selling the plein air
paintings of the day. (they need not be framed)
Another plus: Since this is a non for profit gallery, no commission is taken, donations only are
accepted. The artwork will stay two weeks.
Historical Information
Grand Detour received its name from the great bend in the Rock River where Lee and Ogle
County join together along the river. Indian lore has it that the Rock River turned back in its
course, not wanting to leave the beautiful and artistic scenery of this area. The earliest records
of Grand Detour date back to the days at the beginning of the nineteenth century when fur
traders and trappers traveled back and forth along the Rock River and connecting waterways.
Many of these early travelers were of French nationality and some of their early settlements
appeared in Ogle County.
When Black Hawk and his tribe were driven back in the war of 1832, it ended all of the Indian
hostilities in the Rock River valley and opened the area to early settlers. Leonard Andrus, who
had been in the Illinois country as early as 1827, was intrigued by the possibilities of water
power from the Rock River. He later organized a power company and built a mill race and had
established a sawmill in Grand Detour. Returning to Royalton, Vermont for a visit with friends
and relatives, he told of the beautiful location he had found, describing the Illinois country as a
paradise, that Indian troubles had ceased and that men were needed badly out there to
establish new settlements. Mr. Andrus had said that there were a few boggy little towns, like
Chicago, that would never amount to much but that Grand Detour was bound to become one
of the wonder cities of the west.
No doubt all of this talk influenced John Deere. The town of Royalton was then where stage
routes had converged and where he had established his trade as a blacksmith. Mr. Deere had
heard of the great tales of the fabulous west. Noting that he had little to show in profit for his
long years of careful workmanship, he set out alone for Grand Detour, leaving his family in
Vermont until he became established in the new country. Arriving in Chicago in the fall of 1836,
John Deere found there were many job opportunities but instead continued his journey by
joining a little band of pioneers who had hired a wagon to take them from Chicago to Grand
Detour.
Mr. Deere, after arriving in Grand Detour quickly found that the nearest blacksmith was some
forty miles away, so there was ample work for him. Joining together, Leonard Andrus and John
Deere established a plow factory and changed the one drawback to this areas vast prairies
which would ultimately change the course of progress. John Deere has probably been more
closely identified with the history of Grand Detour, for it was through his perseverance and
foresight that the history of farming in the middle- west was changed.
But there were other men who helped in the establishment of the village. Among them were
Amos Bosworth, William Dane, Dennis Warren and Charles Throop. By 1842, the small village
was becoming a business and trade center for the area. A cradle factory, cheese factory, a
hotel, two blacksmith shops, a tin shop, two shoemakers, a cigar factory, broom factory, a
wagon and buggy and carriage factory, grist and flour mills, a tailor, saw mill, printing press,
wheelwright shop, the plow factory, three stores and the dry goods store which employed
eleven clerks.
At one time Grand Detour also had two ferries which were established to move people and
equipment across the river at this point. By late 1843, a railroad coming west had planned to go
through Grand Detour. For some reason - and it is thought that the price of the land was held
too high, the railroad opted instead to traverse through Dixon and was followed shortly
afterward with another railroad. From this time on Grand Detour was not even a good location
for the plow factory. Coal and all kinds of goods had to be brought overland and the goods to
be shipped out of the village needed better transportation too. By 1848 John Deere ultimately
decided to withdraw and move his operation to Moline. Mr. Andrus continued the operation in
Grand Detour until his death in 1867. By 1869, the new owners of the plow factory moved the
operation to Dixon.
The history of Grand Detour would have been very, so very different had it not been passed
over by the railroad. However, nature has a great way of helping civilization and nature
conspired to help Grand Detour in its struggle to survive. Through the years it has been a Mecca
for artists and sculptures who have been inspired by the region. Prominent among the early
artists of the area were Holgar Jensen and John Nolfe. Grand Detour - a town rich in history and
heritage continues today to bring travelers from throughout the United States to the Illinois
country. Its beauty, peace and tranquillity are still present, just as Leonard Andrus so proudly
boasted of some 160 years ago. (http://wikimapia.org/1808213/Grand-Detour-Illinois)