Winnebago Village History
History of Winnebago Illinois
Written
by Barb Kinison
The first settlement was actually at
Westfield corners because that was where the stagecoach route
passed through.
The first settler in the Winnebago Township
was David Adams Holt in 1835.
Most of the early farmers came from New
England and New York, with some coming from New Jersey,
Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Roads of the time were dirt tracks, with the
‘State Road’ from Rockford to Freeport passing through
the northern tier of sections of Winnebago Township.
The first school in Winnebago Township was
established at Westfield in 1839.
The school house was raised in 1844 at
Westfield Corners.
The organization of the Methodist church at
Elida, (Winnebago), was also at Westfield corners.
Elijah Holt built the first house in 1840
and it is still standing in Winnebago Township on Montague Rd.
which is now part of the Severson Dells Forest Preserve, a marker
was placed there by the D.A.R. in 1981.
Most of the first land claims for that
area was $1.25 an acre in the south end of the township, because
it was wooded instead of prairie land.
In July of 1841, the first two purchasers of
land in Winnebago Township where Henry Schoonmaker and Joseph
Folsom. Mr. Folsom was a veteran of the 1812 war. Both
men purchased this land from the Galena Land Office .
In July of 1846 the organization of the
First Congregational Church of Winnebago met at Westfield.
In 1849 Winnebago was officially named
Elida.
In 1850 there were 499 residents, most being
farmers. However, Winnebago could boast 1 minister, 1
molder, 2 blacksmiths and 4 mechanics.
The Chicago & Galena Union R.R.,
encouraged by Chicago merchants in all the urban communities,
arrived in Rockford on the east side of the Rock River in August,
1852. Each town at the west end of the line as it continued
west became a magnet of growth, motivated by the massive leverage
of farmers arriving with their livestock, or wagonloads of
produce ready for delivery to market.
Most of the site of the future village of
Winnebago was sold at $80 per acre to a group of men who then
laid out where the railroad would pass.
In 1853, then the Chicago & Galena Union
railroad extended to the west from Rockford to Freeport. This
track forged through both Elida, (Winnebago), and Pecatonica,
igniting local growth.
In October of 1854 the villages train
station was laid out, and by rights was the center of attention.
The depot attracted commercial development, warehouses and
stockyards emerged near the tracks.
Also at this time, the Old Stone Church
building was being used by the Congregational church and is now
the present site of the Winnebago Cemetery.
In January 1855 Joseph D. Warner, who was
the first railroad station agent, finished his house on South
Elida Street.
Six months later in June, the Middle Creek
Presbyterian church was built for around $2100 at Montague and
Kendall Roads. By the time fall rolled around the first
store was up, running, and owned by N.D. Warner, and the first
school class met in the Winnebago village at the Methodist
Church. Last but not least the Westfield M.E. church was having
services in their own building as well. The first Physician to
arrive in Winnebago was Dr. Wesley Rush Gearhart; who practiced
medicine here for 30 years.
The citizens of Elida petitioned to change
the villages name from Elida in favor of Winnebago.
In 1858 a frame school building was built on
the southeast corner of Soper and Benton streets, a bargain at
$1325.
The Edson was Winnebago’s first hotel.
It was built in 1859 on the southeast corner of Benton and Main
Streets, later the first public hall was added thanks to D.C.
Lewis.
The Middle Creek Cemetery was established in
1859.
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The year 1860 saw Winnebago township’s
population at 1002.
The village itself had 276 residents,
and employment ranged from physician to shoe-maker, teacher to
postmaster.
In the 1860’s, it was the policy of
temperance leaders not to permit alcohol establishments in the
village; this was later mandated by a local option vote.
During the Civil War, Winnebago sent 150
soldiers and 2 nurses. One local mother, Mrs. Marchant,
sent 10 sons for military service.
1868 saw a new 4-room school house completed
at the southwest corner of S. Benton and Winnebago Streets.
The First Presbyterian church was initiated in Edson Hall by the
Rev. Braddock of Middle Creek church, just north across the
street from the new school. Also the Free Methodist church
of Winnebago was organized, and that church was built on the
northwest corner of Winnebago and South Benton Streets.
In 1870, the census counted 1428 residents,
these were not divided into village and rural categories because
growth had now slowed.
The Winnebago High Schools first graduation
class was in 1874.
1875 was the founding year for the Winnebago
Farmers’ Mutual Fire Insurance Co., and the Westfield
Creamery, which sent butter for judging at the Centennial Fair in
Philadelphia Pa. in 1876.
In October of 1876, Local Masonic Lodge #745
of Winnebago was established.
The village was formally incorporated in
1878, the village’s population was almost 600. D.C.
Lewis was elected Village President, and Reuben Alworth, clerk.
First orders of business included immediately installing a
windmill and stock tank on E. Soper St., (across from the present
village office), followed by a local option to prohibit alcohol
sales.
The organization of the Winnebago High
School Alumni began in in1879.
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In 1883 the Congregational church was built
on S. Elida St.
The Winnebago Reflector was
the village’s weekly newspaper, and it was established
in1887. The Reverend Chenoweth who was the Congregational
minister, started it, and its’ editor was Charles Tritle.
At the end of
the 1880’s the Illinois Central railroad built its competing
east-west line through the center of Winnebago Township
paralleling the Chicago & Galena Union .
The offers for
passenger and freight services were the same, with grain and
stock loading, later grocery and gasoline outlets.
Then from 1903
thru 1930, the village was served by the Rockford &
Interurban RR., an electric line with frequent passenger service
from Rockford or Pecatonica and Freeport. This line also
brought electrical power into Winnebago.
At this
point in time laborers started commuting to work at an
ever-growing Rockford, and many more residents did their shopping
in Rockford rather than locally.
Rides from
Winnebago to Rockford were .25.
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Fires
obliterated the S. Benton & Main St. business buildings on
one side in 1890, and then a year later destroyed the business
buildings on the other side of the street. At that time
property in country villages was of little value, so much
of the damage was not covered by insurance. Nine years later
there would be another disastrous fire downtown.
In December of
1893, the Township Hall was built with township funds and then
dedicated.
In 1897 the
Winnebago Produce & Supply Co. was established with local
stockholders.
On August 22,
1899, the first Soldiers’ Monument was dedicated at the
Winnebago Cemetery on Westfield Rd.; John M. Mitchell led
in raising the $800. needed.
---
1903 brought
telephone service to Winnebago, at first there was two competing
companies, but they finally interconnected.
The Winnebago
Post Office started delivery to rural routes in 1904. The
two routes covered large sections of Burritt and Seward Townships
as well as Winnebago.
The State Bank
of Winnebago was established in its new building on the site of
the Edson Hotel in 1912, it was succeeded by the People’s
State Bank in the late 1920’s,
and that bank
fell under in 1932-33.
January 1914 The
volunteer fire-fighters were organized and established in the
village, and Winnebago furnished a fire engine pulled by horses
in December of that year.
During this time
period the churches in Winnebago dwindled from four down to two.
First
Presbyterian replaced its building with a brick edifice in 1914,
and The Methodist Church purchased the Congregational building
and parsonage in 1920.
In August, 1925
the Winnebago Consolidated Schools’ new brick building was
dedicated, this building was on S. Elida St. In 1926 the first
school yearbook hand-written by the students was issued.
After WWII the
population of the village started growing again. Most of
the vacant lots were beginning to disappear as homes multiplied.
Costs were still fairly affordable,
so Veterans and
wartime workers could easily provide for their expanding
families.
By 1948, the
State had completed the cement road through the village to U.S.
20.
In turn
Winnebago expanded by putting in the water system, (1950), and
sewer plant,(1958). The first zoning dictum was also a
result of the village’s escalated growth.
After a handful
of years, the over-crowded high school was definitely feeling the
pinch, and a new building was put up at the north end of town and
dedicated in 1959.
The other
schools in the village followed pursuit replacing their
undersized facilities.
In 1972 a
volunteer library was rejuvenated by the Jr. Women’s club
and in 1982 the public library district was established, the
building itself was complete for use in 1988. You can find
the library on N. Elida St.
Village
Population Total in 1940- 637
1950-
752
1960-
1059
1970-
1644
1980-
1644
1990-
1840
2000-
2958
There is still much
more to learn about the Winnebago Community, and you can do so by
visiting your local library.
My sincere thanks
to Mr. John D. Rowley, Township Historian.
Chronology of
the History of Winnebago, Il. And Area.
Stages of Growth
of Winnebago (Township and Village)