Having some cents of Dixon history

Dixon’s past is full of stories — the people, places, facts and figures that have played a part in putting it on the map and telling its tales. Some are well-known, while others can only be found when you dust off the history books and flip through the pages — but big or small, all those stories deserve to be preserved.

When it comes to celebrating the past, most of the historical hoopla is usually reserved for benchmark anniversaries — 100 years, 150 years, and the like. People don’t tend to get as nostalgic when the 93rd or 147th anniversaries come around.

Milestone markers come with some linguistic tongue-twisters, though they don’t tend to get as much attention as centennials and bicentennials. There’s the quasquicentennial for 125 years and sesquicentennials for 150 years; and when it’s time to mark 175 years, you’ve got several different words you can wrap your tongue around — seven by some counts, including dosquicentennial and septaquintaquinquecentennial (though some who’ve done the math contend some of the terms don’t quite add up, but we’ll leave that to the linguists).

When it comes to Dixon history, we’ll feature stories that have reached a milestone this year, tales mostly forgotten, but ones that deserve to be remembered: When high school football players shut out nearly every opponent they faced, when a pair of important buildings that still stand today were built, when students attended a university in Dixon, and when Dixon’s nearby neighbors began to have a government to help them.

It’s not just centennial celebrations that bring the past to the present. Double the milestone and double the memories — there are 200 reasons to celebrate bicentennials, just ask anyone old enough to remember being around for America’s year-long love affair with liberty during its red, white and blue birthday bash in 1976. (Which reminds us, our nation’s 250th birthday is coming next year.)

As far as what happened in Dixon 200 years ago, in 1825, little is known. Native Americans, led by Chief Black Hawk, lived throughout the area even as Illinois became a state seven years prior. Just a few miles north along the Rock River, Grand Detour had been the site of a trading post along the Rock River operated by Pierre La Sallier and Stephen Mack since 1822.

Northwest Illinois was one of the last areas of the state to be settled, largely due to the presence of the Natives, and at that time Dixon had yet to exist. It would just be a couple of years later when the first stagecoach trails came through. In 1828, Joseph Ogee operated a ferry near what’s now the city’s two bridges that span both sides of the city named for John Dixon, who bought the ferry upon his arrival in 1830.

You might not be able to say “septaquintaquinquecentennial,” but once you’re done reading, you shouldn’t have any trouble saying, “Hmm, now that was interesting.”

100 years ago: No high school football season quite like 1925

Friday Night Lights at Dixon High School’s A.C. Bowers Field have become a popular attraction in recent years. The Dixon Dukes have racked up 10 consecutive playoff appearances and a record of 31-12 in the past three seasons, and that included only the second 10-win campaign in program history this school year.

Great teams have dotted Dixon’s high school football history, but it was 100 years ago when the 1925 team that was coached by Bowers and captained by senior tackle Gus Biondi turned in a season whose legacy still lives on. What was then-known as the Dixon Union football team, consisting of students from both Dixon High School on the south side and North Dixon High School on the other end, achieved its first unbeaten season since the two schools joined together to play football in 1913, with seven wins, zero losses, one tie, and a Reagan on the team — no, not that Reagan, but his older brother, Neil “Moon” Reagan, who played the end position in his senior year.r.

The team, which had no nickname at the time, made it a point to keep their opponents from seeing much action on the scoreboard, keeping the other teams from scoring points in each of their offensive and defensive plays throughout the year. All told, Dixon scored 178 points and allowed only two, which came on a special teams play — a safety against rival Sterling.

The season began with a trip to Belvidere on Sept. 26 and a 7-0 win, with junior Harry Wienman scoring on a fourth-quarter fumble recovery. The following week’s home debut against Geneseo was far more successful, with a 48-0 victory.

Mendota was Dixon’s first Rock River Conference opponent on the third week of the season, and that game also resulted in a 7-0 win; senior Winston McReynolds’s 55-yard touchdown run was the only score. The next game proved to be a blowout, with Polo falling 70-0 in a game which the reserve players saw plenty of time on the field.

Sterling broke Dixon’s streak of keeping their opponents scoreless in the fifth game, with the safety coming after a blocked punt just before halftime to give the opponents a 2-0 advantage. However, Dixon came back with a 28-yard field goal in the third quarter from senior William Johnson for a 3-2 win. It was Dixon’s first win over Sterling in six years.

The lone tie came in late October during a game with Rochelle, a scoreless game during a blizzard with “several inches [of snow] deep on the field,” according to the 1926 Dixonian yearbook. After that came a game against Rock Falls that would ultimately decided the conference championship; again, Johnson’s foot powered Dixon to a win, with a fourth-quarter field goal that gave Dixon a 3-0 win.

After a 28-0 win over Mount Morris, the annual Thanksgiving Day game with Sterling closed out the season, and like before, ended with another Dixon win. McReynolds had a touchdown run in the second quarter and senior Charles Keyes ran back an 95-yard interception return for a 13-0 victory.

Johnson, whose kicking served the team well against Sterling and Rock Falls, was described in the 1926 Dixonian as “the name with a million dollar toe.” McReynolds received high praise as well, as “… the most outstanding man for the D.H.S. backfield during the past three years. He is the fastest man that the school has ever produced.” McReynolds would later serve on the Lee County Board, and county housing authority and park district boards. McReynolds Towers on Washington Avenue is named for him.

The football team, which began playing under the Dixon High School name starting in 1929, also had unbeaten seasons in 1931 and 1936, both before the establishment of the state playoffs, and came within one point of having an unbeaten nine-week regular season in 2017.

125 years ago: Courthouse, library get bigger and better

As the 1800s made way for the 1900s, Dixon and Lee County were pushing their boundaries, and as a result, bigger and better facilities were needed to accommodate a growing population. Such was the case for the city’s library and county’s courthouse, both in Dixon. The city’s population in 1900 was 7,917, a 53.4% growth from a decade prior; and Lee County’s was 29,894, an increase of 14.2% in the same time.

As the city and county grew, so too did the number of construction projects. Scaffolding and piles of bricks were signs of things to come 125 years ago, as construction began on both a new library and a new courthouse. Completion of both came in 1901, but the buildings’ date stones both read “1900.”

The first chapter in the history book of Dixon’s library was written in 1872, when a small subscription library was established by the Dixon Hose Company; it was transferred to the city’s oversight in 1896, with a board of directors to manage it.

Theron Cummins and O.B. Dodge, executives with the Grand Detour Plow Company, were early investor in Dixon’s literary legacy during the 1890s. Cummins was president of the plow company until he died in 1899, and his will left $15,000 to build a new library, or for other benefits involving it. Dodge was board president of the library, then housing a full 3,500 volumes at the YMCA Building, and with Cummins’ will in mind, proposed a new library in the city. Approved for construction in August 1899, work began in the early winter of 1900 with an $18,000 budget.

The new building was named in honor of Dodge, who ultimately made the library a reality. It was made of durable Bedford stone with a Conesera tile roof under the oversight of architect Morrison H. Vail and contractor W.J. McAlpine. Construction took around a year, with opening ceremonies on Feb. 16, 1901. For many decades, the front entrance was under a circular keyhole; an expansion in 1969 relocated the entrance and changed the official name to Dixon Public Library.

Two blocks to the east, demand for county courthouse services was outgrowing the 1840 building that sat on land donated by John Dixon, so, in September 1899, the county board of supervisors voted 14-10 to appropriate $100,000 for the construction of a new, larger courthouse on the same site. The old one was razed to make room for the new courthouse, a Grecian-style building designed by architect Charles E. Brush. Library builders McAlpine and his staff were tasked with the construction of the courthouse as well.

The courthouse’s cornerstone was laid during a ceremony conducted by the local Freemasons on July 17, 1900, with more than 4,000 people in attendance. A time capsule was placed inside the cornerstone that included newspapers, government and court documents and municipal reports, local college catalogs, money and stamps. The building was completed at a cost of $124,204 and opened on Sept. 16, 1901.

Both buildings continue to serve local residents today; the library, expanded through the years, continues to welcome patrons, and the courthouse – now the Old Lee County Courthouse – is now home to county government offices after a newer facility was built nearby in 1984.

150 years ago: Dixon get its U

As one of northern Illinois’ oldest cities, Dixon became a hub for industry and activity during the 1800s, and this also attracted educators who operated institutions of higher education. Dixon was home to a few different colleges at one point, but none of which was considered a “university” — that is, until 150 years ago, in 1875.

Unlike ones that started from scratch, Dixon’s first university came as a result of a redirection of curriculum at what was then Dixon Female Seminary. The Seminary became Rock River University and opened to both men and women. The change was made by the new regent, McKendrie M. Tooke, and president O.G. May. After a couple of years, “470 students enrolled in normal, business, classical, scientific and music courses at the university,” according to Frank Stevens’ 1914 history of Lee County.

The five-floor university, on a bluff overlooking its namesake river on the south bank, was completed in 1861, made of brick and stone and tall enough to be seen throughout most of Dixon. The front of the building faced west toward downtown.

Rock River University’s fortunes didn’t last long, and it ceased operations in 1880. Management changed several times throughout its short, five-year history, with the final lead administrators being president Jay R. Hinckley and business manager W.H. Chamberlain.

Woodbridge N. Ferris was the most notable person to have educated students at the university. Ferris came to Rock River University from Freeport Business College in 1876 as principal of the normal education department. He left for the Dixon Business College after one year, and later founded Big Rapids Industrial School (later Ferris State University) in Big Rapids, Michigan in 1884.

The university was razed and a few large homes that make up the 100 block of South Dement Ave. now occupy the site.

175 years ago: Rural Dixon has its organization

Residents who lived near Dixon, but outside its borders during the 1830s and 1840s, weren’t afforded the amenities of local government that were readily available to their neighbors who lived in town, and the county government at the time wasn’t quite up to the task of meeting the needs of everyone who lived in the large swath of the county that weren’t in city or village hands.

That all changed 175 years ago.

Different parts of Lee County had different needs, and in 1850, the county was divided into eight townships; each with its own elected officials to meet the needs of rural residents, such as property assessment, road and bridge maintenance and drainage issues, which was especially prominent in the eastern and southwestern parts of the county.

Palmyra Township was formed on the far northwest corner of the county, encompassing the first six miles in latitude from its border with Whiteside County and all points north of the Rock River. It has retained its original borders throughout its history. Dixon Township took up the remainder of the county’s northwestern portion, with its borders appearing in an “L” shape.

Dixon Township’s original shape didn’t last long. Its shorter leg was organized into Nelson Township in February 1860, and the territory south of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad (now Union Pacific) broke off in February 1867 to form South Dixon Township. In 1901, Dixon Township acquired a portion of neighboring Nachusa Township northeast of Dixon.

Today, there are 22 townships in Lee County.

Fast forward 175 years, and the concept of township government in Illinois has become one of debate this spring. Earlier this year, four bills in the Illinois General Assembly were introduced that would dismantle township governments throughout the state: Senate Bill 2504 eliminates township tax assessors in counties with a population less than 50,000, which includes Lee County; SB 2217 dissolves townships with populations less than 5,000, which includes all in Lee County except for Dixon Township; House Bill 3581 eliminates road districts of less than 15 miles; and HB 2515 dissolves townships with populations less than 500 residents.