Devil's Rope Museum - McLean, Texas, USA.
N 35° 13.883 W 100° 35.833
14S E 354656 N 3899871
The story of Barbed Wire & its History can be found at the Devil's Rope Museum. This is a really oddball museum & to prove it they have giant balls of barbed wire out front as a tribute to barbed wire in its many forms. Located in McLean, Texas.
Waymark Code: WMN73V
Location: Texas, United States
Date Posted: 01/09/2015
Views: 8
This building houses the worlds largest museum on barbed wire. In front of the museum there are two giant balls balls of barbed wire, much like a ball of wool, but with sharp points. Visit The Devil's Rope Museum and you may get hooked on collecting barbed wire.
"Several patents for fencing wire were issued from 1853 to 1867, only one had projecting points. The first practical "barbed wire" invention came from Michael Kelly of New York in 1868. His design allowed factory manufacture. Barbed wire as we know it today, came from the mind of Joseph F. Glidden of DeKalb, Illinois in 1874. He improvised with various modifications until he came up with a design that would withstand years of court litigation earning him the title of "The Father of Barbed Wire.
The Glidden wire was unique, consisting of one wire holding evenly-spaced barbs along its length. A second barb-less wire was twisted around the first wire thus doubling its strength, durability and also holding the many barbs in place
Today, more than 450 patents exist for barbed wire and more than 2,000 types and variations of barbed wire have been found by collectors. Also coveted are historical documents, photos, wire tools, advertisements, catalogs, patent models, wire medicine samples and memorabilia." Text Source: (
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"If barbed wire isn't enough to motivate you to stop then you should know that in this building is colocated with the Texas Route 66 Museum. As with almost every state that Route 66 goes through, there's a museum dedicated to it. The building is huge, plenty of room for both museums. There is much to see because, even though Texas has one of the shortest stretches of Route 66, it offers a good variety of interesting sites to visit." Text Source: (
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Roadside America Attraction:
"A museum of barbed wire -- that's what The Devil's Rope Museum is -- can't help but raise questions. One of ours was: "Do you stock band-aids?" And they do." Text Source: (
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Days and Hours of Operation:
Our hours are 9 AM to 5 PM, Monday thru Friday. 10 AM to 4 PM Saturdays. We are closed in the winter from Nov. 1, to Mar. 1
Address:
100 Kingsley Street ( Route 66) .McLean, Texas USA.