History

Carolina Villorroel of Chile represents the next generation of Rotary Exchange students. During her time here she has tasted peanut butter and American-style pizza for the first time.

The Eternal Indian is 48 feet tall (allegedly the second largest concrete monolithic statue in the world) and stands 200 feet over the Rock River.

The arrival of the railroad in the Rock River Valley in the 1850s was one of the most important happenings during the formative years of our area. Poor roads, impassable during inclement weather, slowed the potential development of the communities that had sprung up in the 1830s and 1840s. After the railroad from Chicago opened to Dixon and Sterling in the 1850s, what had once been a several day journey to the city was accomplished in several hours.