Freeport (Illinois)
Freeport | ||
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Nickname : Pretzel City, USA | ||
Civil War Memorial and Courthouse in Freeport |
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Location in Illinois | ||
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Basic data | ||
Foundation : | 1827 | |
State : | United States | |
State : | Illinois | |
County : | Stephenson County | |
Coordinates : | 42 ° 18 ′ N , 89 ° 38 ′ W | |
Time zone : | Central ( UTC − 6 / −5 ) | |
Residents : | 26,433 (as of: 2000) | |
Population density : | 893 inhabitants per km 2 | |
Area : | 30 km 2 (approx. 12 mi 2 ) of which 29.6 km 2 (approx. 11 mi 2 ) are land |
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Height : | 237 m | |
Postal code : | 61032 | |
Area code : | +1 815/779 | |
FIPS : | 17-27884 | |
GNIS ID : | 408732 | |
Website : | www.ci.freeport.il.us | |
Mayor : | George W. Gaulrapp |
Freeport is a city in Stephenson County , Illinois , United States . The area of Freeport is 30.0 km². The population was 26,433 at the 2000 census .
History and location
Freeport is located about 20 km south of the Wisconsin border and about 25 km west of Rockford in the middle of an agricultural area.
The US Highway 20 continues on Freeport's northern city limits at Rockford to the Interstate 90 and Interstate 39 . Interstate 90 is the main route from Chicago to Minneapolis-St. Paul . Interstate 39 runs from Rockford to Interstate 74 and Interstate 55 . From Freeport, US Route 20 runs west to Galena, Illinois and the metropolitan area of Dubuque, Iowa . Albertus Airport is 7.5 km southeast of the city .
Originally called 'Winneshiek' when it was founded, the name of the town changed to Freeport because of the river port on the Pecatonica River . The name 'Winneshiek' is still used today by a theater company in Freeport.
In 1837 Stephenson County was formed and in 1838 Freeport became its administrative seat. Linked to Chicago by the stagecoach, the community grew rapidly. In 1840 a courthouse and a school house were built. Within two years Freeport had two daily newspapers, in 1853 a third in German was added with a population of 2000.
On August 27, 1858, a landmark debate between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas took place in Freeport during the election campaign . The split in the Democratic Party over the issue of slavery then enabled Republican candidate Abraham Lincoln to win the 1860 presidential election.
A monument dedicated to this debate was erected on the same site in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt . Another statue in urban Taylor Park shows Abraham Lincoln as a debater. Once a year the re -enacted debate is shown on the national cable TV channel C-SPAN .
Freeport is called Pretzel City and the baseball and soccer teams call themselves "Pretzels". The nickname is reminiscent of the ethnic origin of many Freeporters, as in the late 1850s many Germans from Pennsylvania and Europe also settled in Stephenson County. The Germans brought their love for pretzels with them and the first pretzel bakery was established.
Freeport is home to the oldest Carnegie Library of Illinois .
Personalities
- Alfred A. Cohn (1880–1951), screenwriter
- Warren A. Bechtel (1872–1933), contractor and engineer
- Calista Flockhart (* 1964), actress
- James B. Goetz (* 1936), politician, lieutenant governor of the state of Minnesota
- Corky Hale (* 1936), jazz musician
- Robert L. Johnson (* 1946), founder of the TV channel BET
- Gerald McClellan (* 1967), world middleweight boxing champion
- Louella Parsons (1881–1972), society reporter
- Geoff Rodkey (* 1970), screenwriter and author
- Ravi Patel (born 1978), actor