John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum

The John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum tells the story of how the John Deere Company grew from a small business into one of the largest agricultural and construction equipment manufacturing corporations in the world. The museum is in Waterloo owing to the fact that the company's first tractor factory was located here, and it features interactive exhibits and numerous tractors, pieces of farming equipment, and tools on display. Some of the interactive exhibits are geared towards children and visitors can climb onto many of the tractors. Admission to the museum is free.

Vermont Blacksmith John Deere founded the company in Grand Detour, Illinois in 1837. He made a number of tools but his most famous one was the steel plow, which made plowing much easier. Compared to iron or wooden plows, soil did not stick to steel, allowing farmers to move continuously rather than stopping every few feet to remove the soil. The new plow quickly became incredibly popular and by 1849, the business was producing 2,000 of them each year.

In the early 20th century, tractors started to be built and the company was eager to expand into that area. As a result, in 1918, the company bought the Waterloo Gasoline Engine Company, which had manufactured the best tractor called the Waterloo Boy. The company sold the tractor under the Waterloo Boy name until 1923 when it introduced its own tractor called the Model D. In the coming decades, the company began to manufacture construction and forestry equipment. The museum opened in 2015.

Homepage. John Deere Tractor & Engine Museum. Accessed September 3, 2021. https://www.deere.com/en/connect-with-john-deere/visit-john-deere/tractor-and-engine-museum/#plan.

"Innovating since 1837." John Deere. Accessed September 3, 2021. https://www.deere.com/en/our-company/history.