Rockford Illinois History & Facts

Rockford is a city in Winnebago County, Illinois, located in the far northern part of the state. Situated on the banks of the Rock River, Rockford is the county seat of Winnebago County (a small portion of the city is located in Ogle County). The largest city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area, Rockford is the fifth-largest city in the state and the 171st most populous in the United States.According to 2020 U.S. Census data, the City of Rockford had a population of 148,655 with an outlying metropolitan area population of 348,360.

Settled in the mid-1830s, the position of the city on the Rock River made its location strategic for industrial development. In the second half of the 19th century, Rockford was notable for its output of heavy machinery, hardware and tools; by the twentieth century, it was the second leading center of furniture manufacturing in the nation, and 94th largest city. During the second half of the 20th century, Rockford struggled alongside many Rust Belt cities. Since the late 1990s, efforts in economic diversification have led to growth of automotive, aerospace, and healthcare industries, as well as the undertaking of various tourism and downtown revitalization efforts.

Nicknamed the Forest City, Rockford is presently known for various venues of cultural or historical significance, including Anderson Japanese Gardens, Klehm Arboretum, Rockford Art Museum, Tinker Swiss Cottage, the BMO Harris Bank Center, the Coronado Theatre, the Laurent House, and the Burpee Museum of Natural History. Its contributions to music are noted in the Mendelssohn Club, the oldest music club in the nation, and performers such as Phantom Regiment and Cheap Trick. Notable outdoor or recreational spots near Rockford are Rock Cut State Park, Atwood Homestead County Forest Preserve, and Lowden State Park.

Rockford traces its roots to 1834, as the combined settlements of Midway were founded on both banks of the Rock River. On the west bank, Germanicus Kent and Thatcher Blake (with his slave Lewis Lemon) founded Kentville; the east bank was settled by Daniel Shaw Haight. With the location of the Rock River equidistant between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River, the combined settlement derived the name "Midway".In 1836, Winnebago County was created (from both Jo Daviess and LaSalle counties), with Midway named as its county seat, as it was “halfway between Galena and Chicago on a line of four-horse coaches.

Famous Peoples From Rockford Illinois

James Henry Breasted

James Henry Breasted August 27, 1865 – December 2, 1935) was an American archaeologist, Egyptologist, and historian. After completing his PhD at the University of Berlin in 1894, he joined the faculty of the University of Chicago. In 1901 he became director of the Haskell Oriental Museum at the university, where he continued to concentrate on Egypt. In 1905 Breasted was promoted to full professor, and held the first chair in Egyptology and Oriental History in the United States.

In 1919 he founded the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, a center for interdisciplinary study of ancient civilizations. Breasted was a committed field researcher, and had a productive interest in recording and interpreting ancient writings, especially from sources and structures that he feared may be lost forever.

James Henry Breasted was born on August 27, 1865, the son of a small hardware business owner and his wife, in Rockford, Illinois. His ancestors went back to early colonial Dutch and English, with the family name Van Breestede. He was educated at local public schools before attending North Central College (then North-Western College). He graduated from there in 1888, and attended Chicago Theological Seminary, but transferred to Yale University to study Hebrew. He studied with William Rainey Harper, who had great influence on the teaching of the language. He received a master's degree from Yale in 1891. His mentor Harper had just accepted the presidency of the University of Chicago and encouraged Breasted to study at the University of Berlin for his doctorate, and then to join him in Chicago. Breasted studied the Egyptian language under the instruction of Adolf Erman. Erman had just established a new school of Egyptology, concentrating systematically on grammar and lexicography. Breasted received his doctorate in 1894, producing an edition of the sun hymns of El 'Amǎrneh period for his thesis. He was the first American citizen to obtain a PhD in Egyptology.

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