St. Charles City Republican intelligencer. [volume] (St. Charles City [Charles City], Iowa) 1857-1861, 1859-05-26
Editorial Correspondence Of the Dubuque Times.
ROCKFORD, FLOYD COUNTY, IOWA

! AS Rockford, Illinois, is the love.
liest town in Northern Illinois, so its
child is one of the lovcicst towns in
Northern Iowa. Both arc situated ON
either side Of a river both have an
affluence of natural shade trees and
shrubbery: both have a somewhat
sandy and dry soil and both are
filled with enterprising, intelligent
people. Several of the settlers here
came from Rockford, Illinois. The
town was laid out in June, 1856. by a
company residing in that city. The
site was selected, we believe, by Mr.
George Wyatt, the agent of the com
pany. llchas fine house, out-houscs,
garden and orchard, on the most beau
tiful lot in this village.
A log house has never been built in
the village. Many of the buildings
the school house and nearly half of
the dwellings,, are grout. They arc
cheap and warm. An air of comfort
and taste pervadcs most of the private
residences. The stranger enters the
town with a consciousness that he is
among refined and moral people.
Rockford is situated at the junction
of the Shcllrock River and Lime creek,
on a tongue of land unsurpassed in
beauty, in Floyd county. 1t has an
abundance of lime stone a superior
kind of clay, blue and yellow, for tue
manufacture of brick, and a large
quantity of timber in the neighbor-
hood. On the east side of the Shell
rock, in the surburbs of the village, is
small grove one and a half miles
northwest is Brcntncr's Grove, con-
tanning a thousand acres, and four
miles north is Rock Grove, five times
as large.
Samuel Pearson has a saw mill di-
rectly in town, and George Brentner
has one a mile or more above, on the
Shcllrock. Two water powers on the
site OF the town are unimproved, and
amy person or persons, we understand,
can have them simply by improving
them, making good opening for en-
tcrprizing men. a Touring mill should
be erected here, before the next wheat
harvest.
MeSsrs. Smith Il Johnson have a
dry goods and shoe store, and Mcssrs.
Chllds n Lyon a grocery. Three of
these merchants are from Connecticut,
fresh and cute, and all four are stir
ring men, determined to build up the
town. They prefer to stay near Lime
Creek to prospecting on CHERRY Creek
Robert NJ. Matthews, ESD, the At
torncy of the place, is filling up a
store on the east side of the ShellrOck.
DR.. kimball is building house and
drug store on the west side, where the
business is now done. \ hardware
and tin-shop is also going up.
Weeks Il Brother have Il cabinet
shop, and there is a sutiicicncy of the
common kind Of mechanic shops. We
notice lime kiln and brick yard
The cream colorcd, or Milwaukee
brick, it is thought, can be made here
A large school house has been
erected, and an excellent school of
forty scholars is being taught by Rev.
Ii. ii. burlington, A. NJ, pastor of the
Baptist church.
The religious societies are Baptist,
Congregational, 5. =. La Due pastor,
and Methodist, w. 7. Holbrook, pas
tor. \ son Of Mr. La Due, Thomas s,
is q young man Of splendid talents
A sermon preached by him yesterday
morning, was learned and eloquent
He is close student, and well posted
in the younger physical sciences.
The physicians Of Rockford are f..
C. kimhall and L. Cortright, both
thoroughly educated men. DIR. Cort-
right is a graduate of Kings College,
London. j. Knapp is the dentist, and
George Wyatt and L G. Bowdoiu are
the land agents.
The hotel keepers are Ransom
Knapp and V. w. Corey The Rock
ford house-Mr. knapp's pleasant
~ located near the river. Mr.. X. be-
ing infrm, would like to sell. An ac-
tive, obliging man--a bora landlord
could step in here and do well. We
have spent couple of days, including
the Sabbath, very pleasantly at the
Rockford House, among the sober, or
derby and cultivated people of the vii
lage. We have not found fractional
man here.
Rockford is, temporarily, in tinan-
cial sense, under cloud, but a bright
day is to dawn upon her She will
not alr0ys have to SO sixty miles-to
Auburn, i'll Fayctte Co.--for flour.
Should the present he good season
for wheat, she will have surplus
next fall, and mill, we trust in which
to grind it.