The West Downtown Rockford Historic District is a set of forty-four buildings in

Rockford, Illinois 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). ...

, United States that reflect the downtown district of the city west of the

Rock River Rock River may refer to: Streams ;United States * Rock River (Mississippi River), a tributary of the Mississippi River in Wisconsin and Illinois * Rock River (Iowa), a tributary of the Big Sioux River in Minnesota and Iowa * Rock River (Lake Mich ...

. Of these buildings, forty-one contribute to the historical significance of the district.

History

was first settled in 1834 when Germanicus Kent established Kentville on the west side of the

. Kent opened a blacksmith shop, bank, general store, and hotel near what is now State and Madison Streets. The first ferry across the river opened in 1836 and the first bridge was completed in 1845. Rockford quickly became an important commercial center because it sat approximately halfway between the cities of Chicago and

Galena Galena, also called lead glance, is the natural mineral form of lead(II) sulfide (PbS). It is the most important ore of lead and an important source of silver. Galena is one of the most abundant and widely distributed sulfide minerals. It cryst ...

. The early 1850s saw the creation of the Rockford Waterpower District, an industrial area that took advantage of the first permanent dam on the river, and a connection to the

Galena and Chicago Union Railroad The Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (G&CU) was a railroad running west from Chicago to Freeport, Illinois, never reaching Galena, Illinois. A later route went to Clinton, Iowa. Incorporated in 1836, the G&CU became the first railroad built out ...

.Illinois Historic Preservation Agency
/ref> Rockford incorporated in 1852; at the time, settlement was split relatively evenly on both sides of the river (151 houses on the east, 126 houses on the west). To keep up with the growing population, local businessmen replaced wood frame buildings with more permanent brick and stone structures. The

Chick House The Chick House is a former hotel building constructed in 1857 in the city of Rockford, Illinois, United States. The building's construction was financed by three Rockford citizens and it operated as a hotel from its opening until 1951. The hotel ...

, which opened in 1857, is one of the oldest remaining buildings in the district. West side development was encouraged with the completion of the Rockford Street Railway in 1880. In the 1880s, the west side district overtook the east side as the principal commercial center of the city. John R. Porter established a successful pharmacy that stayed in business for over a hundred years. The D. J. Stewart & Company building on South Main Street hosted the Rockford Department Store until it moved into a new Romanesque Revival building in 1893. The

Panic of 1893 The Panic of 1893 was an economic depression in the United States that began in 1893 and ended in 1897. It deeply affected every sector of the economy, and produced political upheaval that led to the political realignment of 1896 and the pres ...

halted downtown development for another decade. The Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall was dedicated by President Theodore Roosevelt on July 3, 1903. Daniel Burnham designed the 1905 Rockford Trust Building in the Chicago School motif. The Roaring Twenties brought great prosperity to the west side district. The Forest City National Bank Building was completed in 1923. The tallest building in Rockford, the Talcott Building, was finished in 1927. Also that year, the

Coronado Theatre The Coronado Performing Arts Center (originally the Coronado Theatre), in Rockford, Illinois, is a 2,400-seat theatre, designed by architect Frederic J. Klein. The theatre cost $1.5 million to build, and opened on October 9, 1927. Interior The t ...

first opened to audiences. Porter's Corner, home of the Porter pharmacy, was rebuilt in 1929 in the Art Deco style. A two-story Art Deco building was constructed next door, once housing a

J. C. Penney Penney OpCo LLC, doing business as JCPenney and often abbreviated JCP, is a midscale American department store chain operating 667 stores across 49 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. Departments inside JCPenney stores include Mens, Womens, Boys, Girl ...

department store. The

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and World War II stalled development in the 1930s and 1940s. S. H. Kress & Co., a

five and dime A variety store (also five and dime (historic), pound shop, or dollar store) is a retail store that sells general merchandise, such as apparel, automotive parts, dry goods, toys, hardware, home furnishings, and a selection of groceries. It us ...

, and the Times Theater were among the only developments in those decades. The Central Union Telephone Company building, originally built around 1915, replaced its faced in 1942. The construction of

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...

in the 1950s, which bypassed the commercial center of Rockford, greatly harmed its chances of economic recovery. The national decline in manufacturing jobs caused the Rockford unemployment rate to skyrocket to 25.5 percent by January 1983.

Historical recognition and preservation

Individual structures within the district were recognized by the National Park Service with listings on the National Register of Historic Places. Memorial Hall was the first such building, recognized in 1976. The Coronado followed in 1979. A task force was created in 1986 to preserve the deteriorating west downtown district. The Chick House was recognized in 1997, the

Rockford Morning Star Building The Rockford Morning Star Building, located at 127 N. Wyman St. in Rockford, Illinois, Rockford, Illinois, is a historic building originally used by the ''Rockford Register Star, Rockford Morning Star''. Architecture Built in 1927–28, the build ...

in 1999, the William Brown Building in 2000, and the Rockford Elk's Lodge #64 in 2005. On September 5, 2007, the West Downtown Rockford Historic District was recognized as a

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

. There are forty-four buildings in the district, and all but three contribute to its historic integrity. The historical period most represented by the district is 1923 through 1930.

References

{{commons category, West Downtown Rockford Historic District National Register of Historic Places in Winnebago County, Illinois Italianate architecture in Illinois Neoclassical architecture in Illinois Buildings and structures in Rockford, Illinois Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Geography of Rockford, Illinois Chicago school architecture in Illinois