In honor of fall, we thought it would be fun to post some information about one of our favorite fall decorations- Broomcorn! Not only is our headquarters in Broomfield Colorado named after the plant, it also has a rather interesting history in the United States.
Benjamin Franklin brought the first broomcorn seeds to American in 1725 after finding them on a hat brush in England. A new broom industry was created shortly thereafter when it was discovered that broomcornmade a more efficient broom, whisking away more dust than brooms made from twigs or straw. In 1781, Thomas Jefferson listed it as one of the most important crops of that time. This type of sorghum was not called “Broom Corn” until the early 1800’s. At that time, the British called all seed-bearing plants ‘corn.’ In modern times, Arcola, Illinois is known as the “Broom Corn Capital of the World”. Broomfield Colorado, where our offices are located, was named after the broomcorn plant around 1900 when a lot of farmland was devoted to growing it.