The History of Rockford, IL

Rockford, Illinois, was first settled in 1834-1835 by Germanicus Kent, Thatcher Blake, and Lewis Lemon, who came from Galena and established themselves on the west bank of Rock River; and Daniel Shaw Haight, who founded a settlement on the east bank (Molyneaux). Halfway between Chicago and Galena, the community was briefly known as "Midway", but quickly became known as "Rockford", because of the excellent ford across the Rock River (Molyneaux). Today, Rockford is the home for 152,871 people (according to the 2010 US census). During the 20th century Rockford was booming; the city placed a big part of the industrial revolution, trained men during World War I and II at Camp Grant, and is the proud owner of the Coronado Theater (Molyneaux). The first business in early Rockford was built in May, 1835 by Germanicus Kent and Thatcher Blake. The business of the settlement- known as Kentville-during the first years included a general store, a blacksmith shop, sawmill, primitive hotel, a crude system of banking, and mail facilities of a sort (Nelson). All were under Kent’s general proprietorship (Nelson). Rockford’s first ferry was also owned by Kent. In September, 1836, the Winnebago County Court granted a license to Kent to establish a ferry where the State street bridge now is (Segar). It was the dream of the early Rockford settlers that Rock river might be developed into one of the great water highways of this inland empire (Segar). Their dream came true in 1844, when the first steamboat successfully traveled down the Rock River, Pecatonica River, and Mississippi River (Segar). The settlement was incorporated as a village in 1839, and charted as a city in 1851 (Nelson). The first weekly newspaper was published in 1840 and the first successful daily newspaper appeared in 1877; between 1890 and 1930 the city had three daily newspapers (Nelson). Although Rockford was a sleepy country village for about the first ten years, it thereafter began to expand rapidly in size and industry and became the seat of Winnebago County. In 1851, the Rockford Water Power Company was organized and in 1852 the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad reached the city (Molyneaux). These two events, which brought inexpensive power and transportation to the area, changed Rockford forever. By 1860 Rockford had become a significant, growing industrial center, noted for production of the John H. Manny reaper and other agricultural machinery (Molyneaux).
In 1876, the Rockford Union Furniture Company was organized by a small group of men led by John Erlander, an immigrant from Småland, Sweden (Nelson). It was the first of twenty five area furniture factories that were formed as cooperatives. Many of the furniture companies were organized with laborers and craftsmen holding significant power, reflecting a different business approach from that of the old Yankee entrepreneur (Molyneaux). By the 1880s the furniture industry was using the talents of Swedish-born craftsmen and capitalists, and by the first half of the 20th century Rockford was the second largest furniture manufacturing center in the United States (Molyneaux). The agricultural implement industry was in decline by the First World War, and the furniture industry was severely damaged by the Great Depression and the Second World War (Molyneaux). By the end of the 1960s both were extinct in the city.
Rockford's 20th Century industry revolved around machine tools, heavy machinery, automotive, aerospace, fastener and cabinet hardware products, and packaging devices and concepts (Molyneaux). The city's industrial background has produced many important and interesting inventions, among them the Nelson knitting machine, airbrush, electric brake, electric garage door opener, dollar bill changer, and electronic dartboard (Molyneaux). Some defunct Rockford concerns of historical interest are: Air Brush Manufacturing Company, Free Sewing Machine Company, Haddorff Piano Company, Hanson Clock Company, Hess & Hopkins Leather Company, Norse Pottery Company, Rockford Brewing Company, Rockford Silver Plate Company, and Rockford Watch Company (Molyneaux).
The number of impressive movie palaces built in the 1920s and early 1930s speaks to the thriving economy Rockford had at the time. The Coronado Theater was the largest and most expansive of all these movie theaters in Rockford, complete with an orchestra pit, double balcony, highly ornate design and full array of theatrical and stage equipment (Nelson). Coronado Theatre, "Rockford's Wonder Theater", was listed during 1979 to the National Register of Historic Places. During its early years, the Coronado played host to both movies and live stage shows. Its opening show was a silent film called "Swim Girl Swim" (Nelson). Nearly 9,000 people flocked to the three opening-day showings. During the theater's heyday which lasted from its opening until the 1960s, such famous stage acts as Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, Bob Hope, Sammy Davis Jr. & Milton Berle appeared at the Coronado (Nelson). During his 1960 Presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy made a stop there (Nelson). Other theaters in Rockford included the Midway, Times, and State theaters.
In the 1840’s Rockford really began to show signs of developing into a major industrial city. The first big step occurred with a special act of the legislature February 28, 1843, establishing the Rockford Hydraulic and Manufacturing Co. to build a dam and mill race on the Rock River (Nelson). The first dam was built just north of the Jefferson Street bridge and included locks for boats; the dam was completed in 1845 (Nelson). Growth and development centered on the river. On February 27, 1843, the Illinois legislature approved a bill for bridge but nothing was done until 1844 when a contract was awarded to Derastus Harper, who later became Chicago’s city engineer (Nelson).
In 1845 the city was described as “one of the most tastefully built towns in Illinois” (Nelson). There were four private schools, and six church congregations- Baptists, Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Methodists, Universalists, and Unitarians (Nelson). There had been several newspapers published by this time. There were eleven dry goods stores, three hotels, two drug stores, two harness shops, an iron foundry, two sawmills, a fanning-mill factory, a furnace and machine shop, two wagon shops, a land agency, three groceries, two meat markets, four tailor shops, one bakery, five shoe shops, two cabinet shops, a cooper and tinsmith shop, a livery stable and a barber shop (Nelson). There were fourteen lawyers, six physicians, and two dentists (Nelson). East side population was 680 and the west side was 598 (Nelson).
On July 15, 1852, the cornerstone for Middle Hall, the first building of the Rockford Female Seminary, was laid Rev. Aratus Kent president of the trustees (Nelson). This was the time of arrival of the first immigrants from Sweden. The first group arrived August, 1852, and found lodging in the area of the railroad terminal which was at 4th Avenue between Kishwaukee and 4th Streets (Nelson). More Swedes arrived and continued to settle on the east side until Kishwaukee Street became known as the most Swedish thoroughfare in America (Nelson).
Public utilities were in the infant stage. In 1879 the first telephone exchange was established in the city with about sixty phones installed (Nelson). In 1882 the first arc lights were installed in the Brown and Epstein drug store with electricity generated at the John McDermaid churn factory (Nelson). Rockford Electric Light and Power Co. were granted the first franchise for electrical service on April 16, 1883 (Nelson). It was an era of great growth for Rockford. The 1880 census had stood at 13,219 (Nelson). In 1890 it had jumped to 23,594 and 80 percent gain (Nelson). Rockford had become the second industrial city in Illinois. In 1883 Rockford Hospital association was formed and a hospital opened October 10, 1885, at the corner of S. Court and Chestnut streets (Nelson).
In 1901 Fletcher Barnes brought the first electric car to Rockford, and Fritz Ulrici the first gasoline car (Nelson). Rockford residents were skeptical about the “horseless carriage”. But by 1904 there were 100 in the city and the first garage was opened by J. J. Cole and Son (Nelson). In the Fall of 1904 auto races were held in Driving Park north of the city and in 1908, when there were 216 cars in the city, the first automobile club was formed (Nelson).
On June 3, 1903, “Teddy” Roosevelt came to Rockford to dedicate the new Memorial Hall (Nelson). The dedication ceremonies lasted all day and evening with 20,000 people downtown (Nelson). In 1904 Rockford got a “skyscraper.” Andrew Ashton built a six-story building at the northwest corner of State and Main Streets (Nelson). Many people were skeptical of the steel structure, but they flocked to the store when it opened.
In April, 1917, war was declared. During the first half of the 20th century, Rockford underwent a number of changes that expanded its presence both regionally and nationally. Additionally, economic factors of the time led the city to diversify its industrial base. In 1917, the U.S. Army opened Camp Grant, one of its largest training facilities in the nation, in order to train infantry for World War I (Molyneaux). Approximately 1,000,000 men entered, trained or were demobilized at the camp (Nelson). After the war, the 18,000-acre facility was closed, and then later turned over to the Illinois National Guard. During World War II, Camp Grant served as an induction center for the U.S. Army as well as a POW detention center (Molyneaux). The USSRockford, a Tacoma class frigate named for the city, was commissioned in March 1944 and earned two service stars during World War II (Molyneaux). In 1946 Camp Grant was permanently closed. The Chicago Rockford International Airport occupies much of the land that used to be Camp Grant. For a few short years after the war the barracks buildings of Camp Grant were converted into makeshift apartments (Nelson). These 'homes' were utilized by returning GIs that had young families. By the late 1940s many of Camp Grant's buildings were torn down and residents moved out (Nelson). In the 1950s much of the remaining camp land was in the possession of Seth B. Atwood, who would later donate former Camp Grant rifle range to the Rockford Park District, who would name it the Seth Atwood Park (Nelson).
The depression, a hard time for many, closed a tighter hand on Rockford than on many other cities in the nation. Rockford National Bank and Manufacturers National Bank closed their doors. More than 8,000 families were on relied (Nelson). In a city approaching 90,000 populations there were only 11,000 men on factory payrolls; most of them on reduced hours (Nelson). Mayor C. Henry Bloom tightened the city budget. Industries in 1937 and 1938 were hiring again and the machine tool industry was getting contracts (Nelson). Despite the depression a gala celebration was held in Beyer Stadium in 1934 (Nelson). It marked 100 years since Germanicus Kent and Thatcher Blake arrived from Galena to build a sawmill and dreamt of a future for their settlement (Nelson).
On December 7, 1941, the city became a war time workshop. Rockford was forging the tools to win the war, and providing sons and daughters to fill the military ranks (Nelson). There was hardly a family that did not have a loved one serving in the armed forces (Nelson). Rockford and the urban area gave 16,000 mean to the military (Nelson). Service flags hung from windows in most homes and in 331 of them the father or the son in service gave his life (Nelson).
Since that time Rockford has done much growing. Rockford, to this day, is still an industrial city with hundreds of multiple kinds of business and companies that continue to grow. If it weren’t for the willingness and hard work of Germanicus Kent and Thatcher Blake, and all of the early settlers that followed them, Rockford would not be the home of 152,871 people today. The citizens of Rockford today have much to be proud of when it comes to the building and making of this city, and should be grateful for the incredible people that made that possible.

Works Cited
Nelson, C. Hal. Sinnissippi Saga; a History of Rockford and Winnebago County, Illinois,. [Rockford? Ill.]: Winnebago County Illinois Sesquicentennial Committee, 1968. Print.
Nelson, C. Hal, and Isy Nelson. We, the People ... of Winnebago County. [Rockford? Ill.]: Winnebago County Bicentennial Commission, 1975. Print.
Segar, Roscoe W. Rockford since Pioneer Days, 1834. A History of Rockford from Its Founding in 1834, through the Civil War; from Its First Bank to the Rockford National Bank of Today ... Rockford, IL: Bliss Printing, 1925. Print.
Molyneaux, John L. "Rockford History." Rockford IL Vacations. Web. 17 May 2012. .