Antique wire and nails do more than mark property lines and hold timbers together. They tell the story of America in the decades after the Civil War, when railroads linked the coasts and the age of open-range cattle ranching came to an end. Hundreds of patents for barbed wire, also called barb wire or barbwire, were granted at the end of the 19th century, as entrepreneurs tried to capitalize on the new demand for wire fencing. Functional...Continue Reading