Name: Bridgeport
Brand: JoAnne Gazarek Bloom
SKU: 9780738577302
Price: 24.99 USD
Availability: InStock

Bridgeport

9780738577302

$24.99

Explore Bridgeport, the most political neighborhood in the most political of cities - home to five Chicago mayors and parades of politicians honoring its power at national conventions.

Once a Native American village traversed by Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet, as Chicago grew the area was called Hardscrabble, then Cabbage Gardens, and finally Bridgeport. Immigrants built it: the Irish dredged a canal and mined a quarry that led to slaughterhouses, cooperages, rolling mills, and breweries that were worked by Germans, Bohemians, Swedes, and Poles. Held dear as the "Heart of Lithuania," muckrakers described parts of it as a heartbreaking jungle. More immigrants came: Italians, Croatians, Mexicans, Chinese. Against the backdrop of prairies, labor strife, gangways, and Joe Podsajdwokiem, this sometimes uneasy mix lived, worked, and voted together. Bridgeport still has streets that defy the city's orderly grid, settlement houses, language stews, and, for each nationality, churches and taverns. Today, it may welcome artists and expensive housing, but on summer nights stoop sitting and rooting for the White Sox remain social obligations.

Chicago Marathon

9780738577180

$24.99

On Saturday, September 23, 1905, fifteen determined runners bolted at the sound of the starter's gun to begin an amazing journey of distance and endurance: the first Chicago Marathon. Huge crowds witnessed a thrilling race that had it all: action, disaster, suspense, a fallen favorite, and a cliff-hanger ending. It was epic, defining a new chapter in Chicago's athletic history. More than a century later, each year Chicago welcomes nearly 40,000 inspiring runners-from the world's best to complete novices-who will start, discover, battle, and ultimately finish something they once thought impossible, even ridiculous: the Chicago Marathon, all 26 miles, 385 yards. This book takes the reader into the marathon experience, including the sights, sounds, emotions, challenges, and achievements.

It Didn't Play in Peoria

9780738525709

$24.99

It Didn't Play in Peoria explores the interesting history of this small Middle American town which is often looked over.

""Will it play in Peoria?"" was an old Vaudeville phrase meaning, ""Will it appeal to the average person?"" But it had greatness in its grasp, and more than once. The Illinois city has gained fame through the years, but more often as the butt of jokes or as an example of the typical Middle American town than through any recognition of its many accomplishments. Peoria boasts a string of close brushes with prosperity, any one of which could have made it a Chicago or a St. Louis. Charles Lindbergh, for example, first approached Peoria for backing for his historic flight, but the town's moneymen refused him and his Spirit of Peoria, perhaps losing a chance at the airline industry as well.

North Aurora:

9780738541082

$24.99

North Aurora: 1834-1940 is a quintessential study of what happened when settlers arrived in the Midwest in the 1830s. The village's location on the Fox River provided plentiful trees and waterpower for sawmills. Soon other mills, smelting works, a packing plant, a door-sash-blind factory, and a creamery all came to town. The village's railroad enabled its Boswell Cheese Factory to ship cream cheese to England in 1877. By 1922, North Aurora had a huge entertainment complex, a popular racetrack, and a hotel. Today the village is growing rapidly but still maintains its rural atmosphere.

Aurora's East-West Football Rivalry:

9781626195554

$23.99

For over 120 years, the people of Aurora, Illinois, have gathered together to watch East Aurora and West Aurora High Schools square off in what is now Illinois' longest-running football rivalry. Since first taking to the gridiron in 1893, the schools have laid claim to mythical state championships, represented Illinois in intra-sectional games and pioneered night football. Alumni from these storied rivals include college all-Americans, Hall of Fame coaches, decorated war heroes, an Olympic medalist, a charter member of the NFL, numerous successful high school coaches, outstanding businessmen and civic leaders, including former mayors of Santa Monica, California, and Des Moines, Iowa. Author Steve Solarz pored over the records of more than two thousand games to produce a work that is both an encyclopedic resource and a passionate account of a celebrated tradition.

Kankakee

9780738540603

$24.99

Kankakee County was organized in early 1853. In June 1853, the village of Kankakee Depot, later known as the city of Kankakee, was declared the new county seat. The establishment of both Kankakee County and the city of Kankakee owed a great deal to the railroad, particularly the Illinois Central Railroad. By the end of the 19th century, the county had become an important railroad hub where several important lines converged and the city had become a commercial and manufacturing center. By 1900, Kankakee was a growing community possessing a vibrant economy and many fine public and private buildings. The city was also host to the Illinois Eastern Hospital for the Insane, renamed the Kankakee State Hospital in 1910, which at the beginning of the 20th century was the second-largest mental health facility in the United States. It was probably the Kankakee River that most clearly defi ned the community. Many of Kankakee's citizens boated on the beautiful river and enjoyed good times at the "new-fangled" amusement facility, Electric Park. The over 200 vintage postcards displayed in this book illustrate the exciting period from 1900 to 1916.

Genoa and Kingston

9780738584478

$24.99

In 1835, while Charles Darwin aboard the HMS Beagle was exploring the Galapagos Islands, the northern Illinois municipalities of Genoa and Kingston were being settled. Pioneers arrived via the historic Chicago-Galena stagecoach trail. Thomas Matteson, a Revolutionary War soldier from Ohio, and his family traveled in three covered wagons and became Genoa's first settlers. Genoa was incorporated as a village in 1876 and as a city in 1911. Kingston became a village in 1886. In addition to sharing a boundary, the municipalities share the Genoa-Kingston Fire Department, Genoa-Kingston Middle School, and Genoa-Kingston High School. During the Civil War, 109 men from Genoa and 105 men from Kingston, roughly a tenth of the population of each municipality at that time, enlisted in the Union Army. Men and women from Genoa and Kingston have continued to serve in the U.S. military from World Wars I and II to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Iranians in Chicagoland

9780738533902

$24.99

In 1893, Haj Mirza Mohammad Ali Moen-Ol Saltaneh journeyed to Chicago from Iran to visit the World Columbian Exposition. According to his memoirs, the Exposition's Ferris Wheel was one of the first things he saw. He visited the Persian Palace, Iran's exhibit at the Exposition, where he met Iranian workers and several French dancers posing as Persian women. These Iranians were likely the earliest group of Iranians who came to Chicago. They little imagined that by 2004, at least 10,000 Iranians would live in the city. Authors Hamid Akbari and Azar Khounani present a newly assembled collection of Persian Palace photographs coupled with Moen-Ol Saltaneh's observations of Chicago.

Prairie Club of Chicago, The

9780738519210

$24.99

Originally formed in 1908, as an outgrowth of the Playground Association of Chicago, the Prairie Club was incorporated as a separate entity in 1911. Embodying the typical reform mentality of the Progressive era, the club emphasized outdoor recreation and preservation, and sponsored walking trips around Chicago's countryside. Captured here in over 200 vintage photographs are the footsteps of the Prairie Club as they built a constituency for exploring and preserving the forests and fields surrounding the Windy City.

Like many large American cities in the early 1900s, Chicago's industrialization and waves of immigration spawned crowded, unhealthy urban conditions. The Prairie Club turned to nature for relief from these societal ills. From its first outing on Saturday, April 18, 1908, around Mount Forest District near Willow Springs, members sponsored hikes and outdoor activities from Palos and Tinley, through Hinsdale and Downers Grove, and up to the North Shore. With each of these walks, public support grew for what ultimately became victorious efforts to establish the forest preserves, Indiana Dunes, and other nature spots around the burgeoning cityscape.

Chippiannock Cemetery

9780738577418

$24.99

Built on a ridge named for the great Native American spirit Manitou, Chippiannock Cemetery has honored the dead of Rock Island County for over 150 years. Chippiannock, which means "village of the dead" in the Sauk and Fox languages, is truly a village. People from all walks of life are buried in the majestic rolling grounds. From railroad and lumber barons to blacksmiths and riverboat captains, here one will find the people who made this land along the Mississippi River thrive. Upon stepping through the gates of Chippiannock, one finds memorials to the dead, ranging from artistic and stately to simple or humble. Each stone tells a story-whether it is a cenotaph in honor of Civil War major general John Buford or the two Dimick children who passed away on the same day in 1878 of diphtheria. Today Chippiannock remains an active, "living" cemetery, beloved by locals and considered a jewel of the Quad Cities.

Northwestern Wildcat Football

9780738534336

$24.99

Their program was once regarded as a powerhouse, but 25 years ago the Northwestern University football team set records for futility. Defying nearly all expectations, the Wildcats experienced a rebirth in 1995 and have been surprising the college football world since. Northwestern Wildcat Football describes in detail the team's first games in the 19th century, the Wildcats' title runs in the 1930s, the career of NU legend Otto Graham, the 1949 Rose Bowl championship, the era of Ara Parseghian, the woes of the '70s and '80s, and Northwestern's return to football prominence in the past decade. From their beginning as one of the earliest college teams in the Midwest to the recent series of Big Ten championships, the Northwestern Wildcats have clawed their way to claim 8 conference titles, 36 All-Americans, and victory in some of the most thrilling college football games ever played.

Douglas/Grand Boulevard

9780738518558

$24.99

The history of Chicago can be told through its neighborhoods, and perhaps none is more telling than Douglas/Grand Boulevard on the city's south side. The future site of the neighborhood remained a sparsely settled prairie until the early 1850s, when Stephen A. Douglas purchased a large tract of land and began developing a residential subdivision for the wealthy. Douglas/Grand Boulevard: A Chicago Neighborhood explores the development of this distinctive community and the many obstacles its residents encountered. Originally a predominately white neighborhood, Douglas/Grand Boulevard became an African-American community during the Great Migration when thousands of Southern blacks moved north seeking greater opportunities. After the 1919 Race Riot, an increasing number of white residents moved away from the neighborhood, and the community became a national model of black achievement.

From Christmas to Twelfth Night in Southern Illinois

9781596299139

$24.99

Journey to a region where all the perennials are said to bloom at midnight on Christmas Eve and where a family's luck is determined by the first person to walk through their door on New Year's Day. Spend a literary Christmas in Herrin, listen to the twelve bells of Belleville ring out the coming year and greet the Three Kings of Germantown at Epiphany. Whether you are a newcomer to southern Illinois or whether you feel like you have been singing La Guiannee" since the tradition started in Prairie du Rocher in 1720, join John J. Dunphy for a season of sacred memories and merry recollections."

From Christmas to Twelfth Night in Southern Illinois

Galena, Illinois

9781596297302

$21.99

With 85 percent of its buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, Galena truly is a place drenched in history.

From the ancient burial mounds crowding the high banks of the Mississippi to the home of President Ulysses S. Grant, the Illinois town's rich past is everywhere on display. Follow Diann Marsh in her dogged pursuit of that fascinating heritage and catch glimpses of unforgettable incidents like the courageous defense put up by a handful of Galena settlers during the Black Hawk War or the monster flood that turned a day in 1892 into a bridge-snapping spectacle. Fortunes are won and lost within the space of a page, but the legacy left by Galena's determined citizens and cared for by passionate guardians like Marsh is one that is sure to endure.

Wicked Decatur

9781609491604

$21.99

In 1854, Decatur was nicknamed Hell's Half Acre."? By the 1910s and 1920s, the town was referred to as the "Second Most Corrupt City in Illinois, "? gaining notoriety as a place where murder, bootlegging, prostitution, kidnapping, gambling and political corruption were common. Members of the Decatur police force, like Troy Taylor's great-grandfather, were hard-pressed to bar the door against crime in a town that seemed determined to remain wide-open. Wicked Decatur presents a rogue's gallery of those who have slipped through the cracks of legality over the past century and a half."

Rockford & Interurban Railway

9781467112390

$24.99

With today's America dominated by the automobile, it is difficult to believe that until the 1920s nearly 100 percent of the US population traveled via rail. Conventional passenger-train service spread rapidly by the 1850s, but another form of rail transportation did not emerge until the turn of the 20th century: the interurban. Almost always electric, interurbans linked cities with burghs. Rockford, one of Illinois's three largest urban centers during the 20th century, enjoyed a system appropriately named the Rockford & Interurban, dating from the city's horse-drawn streetcars of the 1880s. By World War I, the Rockford & Interurban ran from downtown Rockford to Cherry Valley and Belvidere; Winnebago, Pecatonica, and Freeport; Roscoe and Rockton; and Beloit and Janesville, Wisconsin. The Rockford & Interurban enjoyed a supernova of success, rising quickly in popularity before slowly dying when the automobile became widespread in the 1920s; the Great Depression finished the job in 1936.

Legendary Locals of Lake Forest

9781467102148

$24.99

Since the 1850s, Lake Forest, located 30 miles north of Chicago on Lake Michigan, has been a distinctive suburb. It has been a retreat from the diseases, public accessibility, rougher elements, soot, stockyard smells, and general density of bustling city life. For at least five generations, it has been the retreat for Chicago's leading New England-descended families, such as the Farwells, Swifts, and Armours. And for over 150 years, Lake Forest has been the home for a community of educators, merchants, artisans, designers, and a wide variety of estate specialists, the latter from pre-Civil War escaped slaves and Scots and Irish immigrants to today's notable garden and interior artists. Legendary Locals of Lake Forest draws on rare archival images from local and Chicago public and private sources.

Lucky to Live in Illinois

9780738527765

$16.99

What do you get when you cross a read-aloud storybook with a write-in memory book?
Magic moments between kids and adults!
The Lucky to Live in Illinois book is the perfect tool to jump-start meaningful conversations between generations. Read-aloud rhymes set up interesting topics. Then write-in prompts invite children to record their own views to create a personal Prairie State keepsake.
The real gift lies in the interactive nature of the book as it offers the perfect opportunity for adults to share their own stories and wisdom about such issues as friendship, community, team spirit, and other topics that help develop a child's social and emotional skills. Customized Illinois content--from favorite local cuisine (deep-dish pizza) to interesting attractions (Lincoln Home National Historic Site)--provides an even more personalized experience.

Plainfield

9780738551616

$24.99

Plainfield is the oldest community in Will County. The area was originally home to the Potawatomi Indians who lived along the DuPage River when the French fur trapper Vetel Vermette came to settle in the region. Jesse Walker, a Methodist minister, along with his son-in-law James Walker, came to the area and built a log cabin on the east side of the DuPage River in 1828. James built a permanent sawmill on the river by 1830 in a grove of trees known as Walker's Grove, south of present-day Plainfield. The village of Plainfield was platted in 1834 by Chester Ingersoll. This book, through vintage postcard images, offers a unique view of Plainfield's rich history, including scenes of its early business district, village streets, and the fabulous Electric Park, as well as early schools and churches.

Rockford's Forgotten Driving Park

9781467141963

$21.99

Local thrill-seekers at the turn of the century knew that all the action was at the Driving Park. But few today know the drama buried beneath a West End subdivision. At the height of the horse racing craze after the Civil War, prominent Rockford businessmen raised $25,000 to build a harness racetrack there in 1890 (the name refers to the person in the cart pulled by a horse--the driver). The versatile venue evolved to stay relevant, weathering the 1893 financial panic and welcoming bicycle mania. Events ranged from high school track meets to early auto racing. Folks saw a soccer game one week and a circus the next. Controversy erupted at times, from gambling and drinking to a murder and a KKK rally. Amanda Becker reveals this colorful story nearly forgotten since 1938.

Arlington Heights, Illinois

9781596296749

$21.99

The village of Arlington Heights--beginning with the diligence and fortitude of William Dunton--is replete with stories of bitter hardship and exalting triumph. Originally named Dunton after its founder, the village's success was sealed by canny deal-making that brought a railroad through the middle of town. As the state of Illinois boomed, the village on the tracks flourished with agriculture, industry, transportation and an expanding population. From the influx of immigrants and industry to the resurrection of the Arlington Park Racetrack, read the compelling history of a small agricultural village's transformation into a thriving commercial district and the unique way in which its small-town charm and industrious spirit coexist.

When Hollywood Landed at Chicago's Midway Airport:

9781609495923

$21.99

Al Capone dove for the floor when he saw the flash of the camera, while his startled body guards drew their guns. The actress Miriam Hopkins ran screaming from the camera while Lyndon Johnson ran towards it. General Jimmy Doolittle called him a Son of a Bitch, while the Pope called him his friend. Bob Hope asked if he would escort Hope's wife to church, and John Barrymore asked if he would hide him from his mistress. Cary Grant demanded a shoe shine, Eleanor Roosevelt demanded an apology, and Harry Truman demanded a bourbon. Who was this guy? He was Mike Rotunno, and he was a photographer for one of Chicago's newspapers. Yet, he also photographed airplanes for the airlines, starting in the 1920's, the beginning of his 50 year career at Chicago's Midway airport. In that span he got to know everyone, great or small, and his story is like a cross between the movie The Terminal" and "Forrest Gump." He introduced movie stars to baseball players, Marilyn Monroe to a room full o."

When Hollywood Landed at Chicago's Midway Airport:

Lake Bluff

9780738552101

$24.99

The shores of Lake Michigan, with towering bluffs and heavily wooded ravines, have attracted many to Lake Bluff during the past two centuries. The Potawatomis were the first to come, using the ravines for their tribal council meetings. The German and Irish came in the 1830s, drawn by the cheap land prices. The 1870s brought the Methodists, who, seeing the beauty of the lake and the ravines, purchased 200 acres and formed the Lake Bluff Camp Meeting Association. The summer chautauqua brought thousands of visitors every year to its quaint cottages and hotels. It was in Lake Bluff where Frances Willard, president of the Women's Christian Temperance Union, brought together other temperance leaders to form the national Prohibition party, which led to the ill-fated 18th Amendment. In the 20th century, Lake Bluff has retained its charming cottages and tree-lined village streets. It remains today a picturesque and historic northern suburb of Chicago, nestled along the shores of Lake Michigan.

African Americans in Glencoe

9781596298149

$21.99

The village of Glencoe has a proud history of early African American settlement. In recent years, however, this once thriving African American community has begun to disperse. Robert Sideman, a thirty-year Glencoe resident, relates this North Shore suburb's African American history through fond remembrances of Glencoe communities such as the St. Paul AME Church, as well as recounting the lives of prominent African Americans. At the same time, Sideman poses a difficult question: how can the village maintain its diverse heritage throughout changing times? African Americans in Glencoe reveals an uplifting history while challenging residents to embrace a past in danger of being lost.

Elk Grove Village

9780738561653

$24.99

Prior to 1956, the area now known as Elk Grove Village was a massive cornfield. On July 17, 1956, Elk Grove Village was incorporated as a village, with a population of 116. Since that time, the growth of the village can only be described as phenomenal. Over 50 years, the village has dramatically changed since those early days of cornfields. The name Elk Grove Village was adopted from the great number of elk that roamed through the fenced-in portion of Busse Woods, along Arlington Heights Road, south of the Northwest Tollway. American Indians called the region Wapiti, meaning "elk."

Wise Animal Handbook Illinois, The

9780738528182

$16.99

Read-aloud time is about to get a lot more fun!

The Illinois Wise Animal Handbook offers laugh-out-loud animal kingdom advice for kids of every age! Engaging animal photos entertain while charming read-aloud rhymes help jump-start conversations about practical life solutions.
The Read Together/Do Together? experience continues with pull out coloring pages in the back of the book featuring fun facts about special Prairie State animals including the northern cardinal and painted turtle.
Enjoy the opportunity to share your own practical wisdom with your favorite little one as you read-aloud... and laugh-aloud....again and again.

A View From Chicago's City Hall

9780738563732

$24.99

A View from City Hall: Mid-Century to Millennium offers readers a richly detailed, visual road map of Chicago as viewed from the mayor's office in City Hall. Within these pages are emblematic images of Chicago evolving from blue-ribbon Mayor Martin Kennelly's 1947-1955 administration through his successors, including the city's first and second black mayors, the city's first female mayor, the city's first non-Irish mayor since 1933, and finally, the Daley "double," Richard J. and Richard M. Witness the excitement as City Hall rolls out the welcome wagon for traveling kings and queens, dignitaries, and counts, as well as figures of great historic import, including Queen Elizabeth, Princess Diana, Mikhail Gorbachev, Bishop Tutu, and Frank Sinatra. View rare scenes of the "builder" mayor tradition and the construction of such architectural triumphs as the Sears Tower, which was then the world's-tallest building. With over 200 photographs
accompanied by informative captions, this volume highlights a variety of Chicago's ethnic festivals, parades, and political campaigns, skillfully bringing each scene to life.

West Ridge

9780738561509

$24.99

While West Ridge residents often disagree about what to call their neighborhood--West Rogers Park to some, North Town to others--the people of this north side community share a common commitment to the American dream. Drawn by inexpensive land 10 miles north of the burgeoning city of Chicago, European immigrants settled here in the 1830s along the high grounds west of a glacial ridge known today as Ridge Boulevard. Dubbed "Cabbage Heads" by their Rogers Park neighbors, the citizens of West Ridge boldly incorporated as a village in 1890, remaining independent until its 1893 annexation to Chicago. Over time, West Ridge blossomed from sparsely populated farmland into a dynamic neighborhood with Devon Avenue at its core. Now home to one of the Midwest's largest Jewish communities, a hub of Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi culture, and a haven for newcomers from Russia, Afghanistan, and Iraq, West Ridge remains a port of entry for immigrants and a place where cultures coalesce. In West Ridge, one can play bridge or cricket, worship at mass or the mosque, eat kosher or curry--all within a few city blocks.

Springfield Aviation

9780738561592

$24.99

Citizens of Springfield first witnessed human flight, a balloon ascent, on July 5, 1858. In 1861, the capital city's most famous resident, Abraham Lincoln, then residing in the White House, authorized the creation of the first U.S. "air force," a balloon to observe Confederate troops. Springfield's interface with aviation has been a steady stream of hot-and-cold-running enthusiasm since airplanes began flying from the state fair racetrack infield about 1910. Springfield Aviation chronicles that flow and concludes with photographs from Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport in early 2008. It presents photographs of memorable airplanes, airships, and prominent aviators from the author's extensive collection, augmented by contributions from Springfield Airport Authority, Lincoln Library's Sangamon Valley Collection, and many others.

Maywood

9780738532950

$24.99

The character of this singular suburb is preserved and celebrated in Images of America: Maywood. A must-have for fans of Illinois history.

Ten miles west of Chicago on the west bank of the Des Plaines Riversits Maywood, a village that was founded in 1869 by seven New England businessmen who established the Maywood Land Company. This prairie community, carefully laid out along the railroad, experienced a population boom after the Great Chicago Fireof 1871. Soon industry arrived, followed by a variety of ethnic groups. Maywood was one of the few early suburban communities with an African-American neighborhood.

Explore the fascinating history of Maywood, Illinois, with author Douglas Deuchler, a journalist, playwright, and historian who taught in the community for 34 years. Maywood transports readers back in time to meet the people and visit the places that provide the town with its unique heritage.

Grundy County

9780738550947

$24.99

In 1673, Louis Jolliet and Fr. Jacques Marquette were the first Europeans to explore the Mississippi River and the Illinois River valleys. With their canoes loaded with furs, pelts, and other goods on their return trip to Montreal, their explorations through much of the interior of Illinois included encounters with Native American tribes and took them through what is now Grundy County. Over 150 years later, the first permanent residents, including William Marquis, began settling and farming in the area. While the chief occupation of the residents is agriculture, the county also has the Illinois River and the Illinois and Michigan Canal that pass through its northern sections, as well as the Rock Island and the Chicago and Alton Railways. With communities rich in history and small-town charm, Grundy County continues to draw visitors and residents to its towns, parks, museums, rivers, and lakes. Grundy County attempts to reveal this unique county and its sense of community and pride.

The Chicago Haymarket Affair: A Guide to a Labor Rights Milestone

9781467135740

$21.99

On May 4, 1886, a bomb exploded during a labor demonstration near Haymarket Square. The ensuing gunfire and chaos brought a grisly end to what began as peaceful support for an eight-hour workday and led to the trial and execution of rally organizers. The incident also drew irrevocable attention to a conversation about workers" rights and the role of law enforcement that continues today. In this guide to the key moments and sites of one of Chicago's most confusing and chaotic events, author Joseph Anthony Rulli aims to establish a clearer understanding of its historical significance.

The Chicago Haymarket Affair: A Guide to a Labor Rights Milestone

Rockford

9780738523415

$24.99

During the early decades of the 20th century, communication by postcard was an inexpensive and popular means of exchanging travel stories, news, and gossip across the United States. For just a few cents each, postcards connected friends and family separated by hundreds of miles. Rockford: 1900-World War I, with a collection of nearly 240 vintage postcard images, captures the details of this dynamic era and documents the Forest City's coming of age.

Inside are views of Rockford's bustling downtown, including rare glimpses of long-gone landmarks like the Grand Opera House and Orpheum Theater. Witness history in the making with Rockford's first recorded airplane flights in 1911 and experience U.S. Army doughboy life at Rockford's Camp Grant. Be there for Teddy Roosevelt's historic visits to Rockford, and marvel at the intrepid companies that turned Rockford into a national manufacturing power.