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- ROCK COUNTY*--This is one of the
oldest counties in the State, the first settlement being made
in 1835; and in 1839 the county was organized, the seat of justice
being established at Janesville. It now contains a population
of about forty thousand. It comprises one of the best agricultural
districts in the North-west. Its soil, climate, and commercial
situation are equal to any other in the West, and there is scarcely
an acre of land within its limits which cannot be used for agricultural
purposes. In the brief space of thirty-five years, the entire
county has been opened up to cultivation; and over its entire
surface may be found homes of comfort and beauty. The farms in
this county range in value from ten to one hundred dollars per
acre, and are sought for, not so much by emigrants seeking cheap
land, as by those desiring beautiful homes, where they may at
once enjoy all the comforts and conveniences to be found in the
older and more wealthy portions of the country.
- Rock County is better adapted to
growing grain than the growing of grass; and
- every year marks a decided progress
in the mode of tillage and the consequent increased quantity
of productions. The wicked and ruinous practice of many farmers,
of burning the straw and manures, instead of returning them to
the soil in compensation for its rich harvests, has been abandoned.
Wheat is the great staple of production; it being estimated,
that, in a single crop, the production of the county was not
less than three millions of bushels. Corn, barley, oats, and
all the coarser grains, grow in rich abundance, amply rewarding
the husbandman for his toil. Notwithstanding Rock County is better
adapted to grain-growing than stock- raising, the farmers are
giving considerable attention to the breeding of stock; and,
acting upon the correct idea, that it costs but little to raise
a blooded animal, are constantly introducing the best varieties;
and at the county fairs may be seen as noble horses, cattle,
sheep, and swine, as almost any other section of the country
can exhibit.
- The surface of Rock County is undulating,
and is drained by the Rock and
- Sugar Rivers, with their tributaries,
nearly all of which are of sufficient size to furnish water-power
for manufacturing-purposes, and are more or less improved. Rock,
one of the most beautiful rivers, as well as one of the very
best mill-streams in the West, is already used largely for manufacturing-purposes,
and every year is attracting more and more the attention of men
of enterprise and capital : when fully improved, its power for
the propulsion of machinery will be almost exhaustless. The facillities
for manufacturing in Rock County by water-power are but partially
improved; and yet she ranks among the first in the West; her
annual manufactured product being worth not less than three millions
of dollars, consisting principally of flour, agricultural implements,
paper, woollen fabrics, cabinet-ware, lager beer, etc.
- During the last decade, the general
business of the county has greatly
- increased, and everywhere may be
seen tokens of prosperity and growth, based upon the production
of diversified labor in agriculture and manufactures. During
the same period, the public buildings erected in the infancy
of the county have given way to permanent and beautiful structures;
and the county now boasts a splendid court-house, costing over
one hundred thousand dollars, and churches of all denominations,
equal in style, size, and convenience to those of almost any
county in the Eastern or Middle States; and the citizens of Janesville
and Beloit each support a new and creditable opera-house.
- Rock County is pierced east and
west, north and south, by the Milwaukee and
- St. Paul, and the North-western
Railways.
- The educational interests of the
county have not been neglected. Under the
- system of free graded schools, upon
the New England plan, valuable results have been attained; and
it is gratifying to observe a steadily increasing interest in
the schools, and a proper appreciation of them by the people
generally. The cities of Janesville and Beloit have each expended
large sums in the erection of school-buildings; and the sum invested
for school-purposes cannot be less than two hundred thousand
dollars. Super-add to this Beloit College, under the patronage
of the Congregationalists, one of the best managed and most-flourishing
institutions of learning in the West; Milton College, under the
management of Seven-Day Baptists; and the Evansville Seminary,
under the control of the Freewill Baptists,--and you place within
reach of every child in the county the means of a liberal education.
- The Young Men's Literary Association
of the city of Janesville have collected
- within the last four years a very
creditable library of about four thousand volumes of well-selected
works, which form a nucleus for ultimately placing within the
reach of the reading public a valuable means of culture.
- Rock County contains two of the
finest cities in the State of Wisconsin,
- --Janesville and Beloit, the former
containing a population of about fifteen thousand; the latter,
eight thousand; besides numerous villages.
- Beloit
is one of the most stirring manufacturing cities in the State.
The
- celebrated "building paper"
which has come into such universal use of late years, was invented,
and is manufactured, to a very large extent, here.
- In matters pertaining to horticulture,
the inhabitants of this county are not
- behind those of other counties in
this State. Considerable progress has been made in the past few
years in these pursuits; and an improved taste is being manifested
by the people generally in beautifying and adorning their homesteads,
by the liberal planting of fruit and ornamental trees, vines,
and shrubs. Time and experience have demonstrated, that, with
care and attention, certain varieties of apples, as well as pears
and plums, can be successfully and profitably grown. The time
has arrived when many of the "county-seats" take pride
and pleasure in fine grounds and tasteful gardens; and in the
cities, nearly every house has its garden-spot, tastefully arranged
with choice flowers, vines, and evergreens, and kept in the neatest
order. In addition to the flower-garden, many have conservatories
stocked with choice winter-flowering plants; while others, with
less convenience, keep them in the parlor; and the effect is
a wide diffusion of a taste for flowers, and a corresponding
taste and order throughout the whole household, making home more
pleasant and attractive.
-
- Janesville.--The
county-seat of Rock County, is pleasantly situated on both
- sides of Rock River, and was selected
as county-seat in 1837. It is fourteen miles north of the State-
line, and on the Chicago and North-western, and Milwaukee and
St. Paul Railroads. It is a flourishing place of business, and
has an excellent water-power. The first manufactory for cotton
cloth in the State was made by the Janesville Cotton Manufacturing
Company in May, 1875. The Wisconsin Institute for the Education
of the Blind is located here. The fine building which has been
used by the institution was unfortunately destroyed by fire a
few years since; and a new building is in process of erection.
The various religious denominations have church edifices. The
public schools have fine buildings; and the city is in the centre
of a fine agricultural country, comprising some of the best-cultivated
farms in Wisconsin.
- Population, 1875, 10,115.
-
- Beloit
is beautifully situated on both sides of Rock River, about twelve
miles
- south of Janesville, on the State-line;
and is a thriving place of business, having excellent manufacturing
facilities. Its first settlement was made in 1835. It is the
seat of Beloit College, an educational institution of high rank,
of which Rev. A. L. Chapin, LL.D., is president. The water-power
at Beloit has been much improved. Among the manufacturers are
the Beloit Reaper and Sickle Works; the Merrill & Houston
Iron Works having one hundred men in their employ, and manufacturing
water-wheels and other machinery; the Rock River Paper Company,
manufacturing wrapping and building paper,--the latter a specialty,
employing seventy-five hands, and using about three thousand
tons of rye-straw yearly, producing three thousand tons of paper.
Their building-paper is marketed to Mexico, the Canadas, and
most all the Northern States. The Eclipse Windmill Company has
a factory,--a four-story brick building, forty by ninety-six
feet,--and can make fifteen hudred mills annually. D. W. Dake's
Creamery, by a patented process, prepares butter for the market,
of superior quality, and is doing a large business. O. B. Olmstad
& Company, manufacturers of windmills, turbine water-wheels.
Beloit Plough and Wagon Works, of J. Thompson & Company,
manufacture the Norwegian plough, which is extensively used in
the North-west. Beloit has some eight churches, a large number
of mercantile establishments, as well as many mechanical shops
and trades. Its prospects as a place of business are superior;
and it has many advantages as a place of residence, and is beautifully
situated. Beloit is on the Chicago and North-western Railroad;
it has a communication with Chicago, Milwaukee, and Green Bay,
and the intermediate points.
- Beloit College is situated in a
large and pleasant grove, on an elevated and
- undulating plat ofground in the
northeastern part of the city. It has a large and competent faculty;
and the institution has a high reputation, and is well sustained,
and liberally supported.
- Population, 1875, 4,605.
-
- *We are indebted to Hon. Alexander
Graham of Janesville, and H. F. Hobart of Beloit, for this sketch,--C.
R. T.
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