McLean, Texas - Devil's Rope Museum - Barbed Wire

The Devil's Rope Museum claims to be the largest barbed wire museum in the world. It contains exhibits on rare wire, planter wire, decorative wire, war wire, and more. It also houses tools used to make and maintain barbed wire fences, from fence post making to wire repair. Several examples of barbed wire art can be found throughout the museum, and visitors can even purchase framed barbed wire samples labeled with ranch and year at the museum store.

There are also exhibits on ranching, since barbed wire had a such a huge impact on herding cattle. Hundreds of cattle brands classified by time period are on display, as well as the "evolution" of cowboy tools. Profiles of major ranchers and barbed wire developers are also posted.

The museum contains the smaller Texas Route 66 Museum. The room is absolutely stuffed full of Route 66 memorabilia. There are Burma Shave advertisements, postcards, and old souvenirs. It even contains the original Big Texan Steak Ranch cow, an old light-up motel sign, and a faux Greasy Spoon Cafe if you're too nervous to try a real one. [Erin Brocker, 07/04/2006]