Barbed Wire

Object/Artifact

-

The Cardinal Collection

Rusted and folded line of metal wire with thorn-like barbs at regular intervals.

Rusted and folded line of metal wire with thorn-like barbs at regular intervals.

Name/Title

Barbed Wire

Description

Length of barbed wire found on a survey by ODNR field crew. This barbed wire may be buckthorn barbed wire. Buckthorn barbed wire is steel ribbon fencing with one smooth edge and one-pointed edge with barbs spaced at one-inch intervals T.V. Allis patented it in 1881. According to the Henery Ford Museum of American Innovation: Inventors received hundreds of patents for barbed wire during the late 1800s. Some innovators created strands of fencing with sharp metal points cut into the wire; others incorporated small wire spurs twisted and attached to the wire to create a painful barrier. Each inventor believed their variation made the best fencing to keep livestock out of crop fields or confine them to pastures.

Collection

Survey Department

Location

Building

Building E

Other

ODNR Headquarters