Tazewell County
Photo of the Month
Keystone Steel & Wire Company |
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| Building and maintaining
split rail fences in the 1880's was backbreaking labor. Peter Sommer, who lived on a
farm in rural Dillon, came up with the idea of weaving wire into a "new kind of
fence". In 1889, with the aid of his sons, Peter experimented in a small
blacksmith shop on the rented farm where they worked and eventually invented a means of
making a practical wire fence. The first string of fence created quite a stir when it was erected. Farmers came from miles around to examine the fence, giving it a thorough inspection. They quickly saw it was inexpensive and, more importantly, a great labor saver. Business soon outgrew the little building in Dillon. So, they moved the business to a small frame building on North Locust in Tremont - near the current location of the grain elevators. The business continued to grow quickly, requiring several additions to the original building. In 1893, the company was advertising that Keystone fence was "horse high, pig tight, and bull strong". Due to continued strong and growing demand, it became clear by 1895 that Tremont could no longer supply proper facilities to receive the volume of raw materials and ship the volume of wire that were now needed. At that point, the company was moved across the river to Peoria County -- first on Adams Street in Peoria, and finally, in 1901 to its present location in Bartonville. Keystone Steel & Wire Co.'s factory is now one of the world's largest wire mills containing over 2 million square feet of space. Keystone has approximately 1,600 employees - all started on a small farm in Tazewell County! |
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