![]() Large numbers of Irish-born immigrants arrived in the 1850s, and a few Swedish immigrants in 1852. ![]() The earliest settlers were chiefly from New York state and New England, but the city early acquired a modest cosmopolitan character. Between 18 the city had three daily papers. The first weekly newspaper was published in 1840 and the first successful daily newspaper appeared in 1877. The settlement was incorporated as a village in 1839, and chartered as a city in 1852. (Lemon, a slave, later bought his freedom, but stayed in the area as a truck farmer.) Halfway between Chicago and Galena, the community was briefly known as "Midway", but quickly became known as "Rockford", because of the excellent ford across Rock River. Rockford, Illinois, was first settled in 1834-1835 by Germanicus Kent, Thatcher Blake, and Lewis Lemon, who came from Galena and established themselves on the west bank of Rock River and Daniel Shaw Haight, who founded a settlement on the east bank. Take a look at Rockford's rich history! Click on the links in the list to go to each section on the page:
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