What’s Green and Yellow and Runs like a Deer?

Moline, Illinois — Home of John Deere

by Marilyn Jones

Around the world farmers plow, seed, till and harvest using John Deere farm equipment.

From tractors to cultivators, the roots of this multi-billion dollar industry began when a farmer from Vermont moved to Illinois and found the soil a challenge to plow.

John Deere developed the first commercially successful, self-scouring steel plow in his blacksmith shop after meeting other farmers who were just as discouraged as he was when trying to cultivate the sticky Midwestern soil.

In 1837, using a discarded saw blade, he forged the "self-polishing" plow. It was an instant success.

As his business grew, Deere moved his company and family to Moline, Illinois where company headquarters are still located.

The John Deere Pavilion

The best place to start your John Deere adventure is the John Deere Pavilion — a glass-sided building displaying new and antique farm equipment along with interactive exhibits for farmers and city folk alike.

The Kid's Corner features a seed table displaying a variety of seeds grown around the world. There's a machine shed where "All about John Deere" videos are shown. Two photo opportunity stations feature a tractor and vegetables. And, a six-foot row of real corn plants offers children a chance to see what the crop looks like up close. 

An interactive kiosk features important new trends including renewable energy and wind-generated electricity. Four computer stations are devoted to population growth, sustainability, biotechnology and precision farming practices and the role they will play in our future.

A popular exhibit is the film “Anthem: A Song of the Land” featuring farming techniques around the world.

 And, of course, the past is remembered here. Farming and farm life from the 1830’s to modern times are explained.

Deere Homes

Two homes once belonging to John Deere family descendants are now operated by the William Butterworth Memorial Trust and open for tour.

Located in the Moline, the first home Overlook — now known as the Deere-Wiman House — was built in 1872 for John Deer’s son Charles, his wife Mary Little Dickinson Deere and their daughters Anna and Katherine.

Tours offer guests a glimpse into Victorian family life.

The first room on the tour is the library with its dark wood paneling and ornate plaster ceilings. An organ room was added to the library in the late 1890s. The Kimball pipe organ is still in working condition. Historic photos show Charles Deere’s desk in the library which probably also served as his den.

The dining room was originally a long rectangle room. The entire room is a great example of the Victorian eras’ love of nature. The wall coverings, woodworking near the ceiling line, the light fixtures and every piece of furniture — which is original to the house — have some part of nature carved or painted onto them.

In the 1890s, the southern portion of the room was turned into a conservatory, like a small greenhouse attached to the house and included a small fishpond. In 1908 the area was remodeled again into a breakfast room.

The second floor tour includes several family and guest bedrooms.

Guests also are invited to tour the home’s seven-acre formal gardens and walkways.

Four generations of Deer descendants lived in the mansion until 1976 when the property was donated for public use.

Butterworth Center — originally named Hillcrest — was built in 1892 by Charles Deere as a wedding gift for his daughter Katherine and her husband William Butterworth.

Katherine’s community involvement and philanthropy eventually led her to establish the Butterworth Trust in memory of her husband. Upon her death in 1953, Hillcrest was renamed Butterworth Center and opened as a civic center.

Unlike Deere-Wiman, Butterworth Center is filled with modern furnishings, and stately bedrooms now serve as meeting rooms for non-profit organizations. But many interesting and historic pieces remain.

The Butterworth’s tripled the size of their home. The 1909 addition to the living room included a pipe organ. In 1938 a larger pipe organ was installed. At the time the organ is believed to have been the largest residential organ in the Midwest.

Another special feature is the library built in 1917. It was designed to hold an 18th century Italian ceiling painting originally found in Venice, Italy.

The 50-foot canvas ceiling came from Hotel Danieli, formerly a palazzo of the Dandolo family in Venice, Italy. For 90 years it was believed to depict the Dandolo family. New discoveries have revealed that the ceiling painting was completed in the 1720s or 1730s by the Valerian brothers, significant artists of the 18th century and was commissioned by the Bernando family, not the Dandolo family. Only a handful of their paintings remain. This is one of only six known Venetian ceiling paintings existing in the United States today.

If you go:

For information on Deere attractions including The Deere & Company World Headquarters visit the website www.johndeereattractions.com.

House tours are available by appointment only during regular business hours Monday through Friday. Donations welcome. For more information call (309) 743-2701 or check the website at www.butterworthcenter.com.