HR1005 LRB093 22325 HSS 51456 r

1
HOUSE RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the House of Representatives of the
3 State of Illinois are pleased to congratulate the Village of
4 Winnebago on the occasion its 150th anniversary; and
 
5     WHEREAS, In 1850, there were 499 residents counted in the
6 census in Winnebago Township; the only heads of household who
7 weren't farmers were one minister, one moulder, 2 blacksmiths,
8 and 4 mechanics; during that decade, Winnebago became a
9 railroad boom town; each town at the west end of the Chicago &
10 Galena Union line became a magnet of growth, fuelled by the
11 tremendous pressure of farmers arriving, driving their
12 livestock, or with wagon loads of produce ready for delivery to
13 market; and
 
14     WHEREAS, During this period, the town was home to a hotel,
15 warehouses, and stockyards; 1855 saw the first church, the
16 first school class, and the completion of the first house; the
17 1860 census list includes 1,002 rural inhabitants in Winnebago
18 Township; the Village listed 276 residents; and
 
19     WHEREAS, In 1868, a new 4-room school was completed and the
20 First Presbyterian Church was started; formal incorporation of
21 the Village of Winnebago occurred in 1878 and was followed by
22 the prohibition of alcohol sales by local option; the
23 population was estimated at nearly 600; and
 
24     WHEREAS, Winnebago entered a time of decline during the
25 1880s and beyond; there was a dilution of the railroad
26 monopoly; some breadwinners commuted to work in Rockford, and
27 many more did their shopping in the city, rather than locally;
28 several disastrous fires destroyed the Main St. business
29 buildings in the 1890s; and
 
30     WHEREAS, The Winnebago Town Hall was completed in 1893; in

 

 

HR1005 - 2 - LRB093 22325 HSS 51456 r

1 1903, two rival telephone companies were set up in the Village;
2 and the Winnebago Post Office began to serve several routes in
3 1904; during the 1920s, there was growth in Winnebago; one
4 basis of this growth was the consolidation of 2 rural school
5 districts into the Winnebago Village system in the early 1920s;
6 a new building was completed in 1925 to serve all 12 grades;
7 and
 
8     WHEREAS, The Win-Bur-Sew Fire Protection District was
9 established in 1943; the Winnebago Community Council began in
10 1942 and handled the town's centennial in 1954, and it has
11 continued youth activities and what has led to today's 4th of
12 July celebration; by 1960, the village had grown to a
13 population of 1,059; and
 
14     WHEREAS, The State completed a new cement road from U.S. 20
15 through the village in 1948; the Village responded to expansion
16 by putting in a water system by 1950 and a sewer plant by 1958;
17 Winnebago High School was completed and dedicated in 1959,
18 followed by the Jean McNair Middle School, and the replacement
19 of the Dorothy Simon Elementary building; and
 
20     WHEREAS, In 1972, a volunteer library was renewed by the
21 Jr. Women's Club; in 1978, the first multi-family housing
22 project was opened; the 1990 census registered 1,840 residents
23 of the Village, and 1992 saw the updating of the municipal
24 sewer plant after years of restricted growth; and
 
25     WHEREAS, The township formed in 1849 has grown from a small
26 rural village into a bedroom community of nearly 3,000 village
27 residents and over 5,142 township residents; although growth in
28 the community is inevitable, Winnebago still maintains a small
29 town atmosphere; therefore, be it
 
30     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
31 NINETY-THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we

 

 

HR1005 - 3 - LRB093 22325 HSS 51456 r

1 congratulate the Village of Winnebago on the occasion its 150th
2 anniversary; and be it further
 
3     RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
4 presented to the Village of Winnebago as an expression of our
5 esteem.