Rockford
Rockford is a town situated on the territory of Illinois. It is situated on both banks of the Rock River, in northern Illinois. The city of Rockford is known as a forest town. Rockford is the administrative center of the Winnebago County. The population is 152 871 people.
In recent years in Rockford have occurred some of the largest floods in the history of the area. One hundred twenty seven millimeter rainfall led to the destruction of twenty houses, and hundreds of houses were severely affected. This was in 2006. After several months the city was again flooded by rain. Dam Alpine collapsed.
Both the city and surrounding area were declared a place of catastrophic natural disasters.
The worst flooding in the city happened in 1952 when over two hundred seventy-nine mm of rain fell. This literally drowned the city and killed two people and destroyed buildings worth a million dollars. This created the need for a drainage system, which cost millions of dollars.
The history of Rockford began in 1835 when in the area settled three people- Germanicus Kent, Thatcher Blake and Lewis Lemon. As the place where they settled, is located between Chicago and Galena, it became known as Midway, but was soon renamed to Rockford.
The post office in the village was founded in 1837. It was recognized as a town in 1839 and in 1852 already had city status.
In 1847, the Rockford Female Seminary was built. Then - in 1892 it became Rockford College. In 1872, the first public library opened its doors in the city.
In 1852 the railway industry invaded the city and it began to develop at a rapid pace. In the sixties of the nineteenth century Rockford became a growing industrial center, where they produced many necessary attributes and farm accessories.
In 1876 was founded a company to produce furniture. In the eighties of the nineteenth century, it used the talents of artisans that arrived from Sweden in the first half of the twentieth century Rockford became the second largest manufacturing center for furniture in the U.S. after Grand Rapids, Michigan.
In 1947 the territory of Rockford was joined by Loves Park, it became the first suburb of Rockford. Agricultural industry was dead after World War I and the production of furniture was ruined by the pressure of the Great Depression and World War II.
In the forties one of the first female baseball teams in the world was founded here- the Rockford Peaches. They won championships in baseball in 1945, 1948, 1949 and in 1950.
During the twenties and thirties of the twentieth century. the town became a center of the film industry. Coronado Theater was built, it was one of the largest theaters in Rockford. It even has an orchestra. Coronado Theater is one of the historical landmarks.
