John Deere
Inventor of "The Plow that Broke the Plains"
John Deere learned the blacksmith trade here as an apprentice in the shop of Capt. Benjamin Lawrence from 1821 to 1825. The shop was located below this spot on Mill Street, in what is known as "Frog Hollow". In 1836 Deere removed to Grand Detour, Illinois where, in 1837, he built the world's first steel moldboard plow.
Marker is on Main Street 0.1 miles south of Mill Street, on the right when traveling south.
Courtesy hmdb.org
