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- ROCK, a county in the S. part of
Wisconsin, bordering on Illinois, contains
- about 770 square miles. It is traversed
from N. to S. by Rock river, into which several large streams
empty. The surface is undulating, and the soil highly productive.
Rock Prairie, the largest in the state, occupies nearly half
of the county, extending from the river eastward. The staples
are wheat, maize, oats, wool, potatoes, pork, and butter. In
1850 the county produced 784,278 bushels of wheat; 300,143 of
Indian corn; 487,880 of oats, and 410,881 pounds of butter. It
contained 17 churches, 3 newspaper offices; 5186 pupils attending
public schools, and 194 attending academies and other schools.
The most abundant rock of the county is the blue limestone. Rock
river is a fine stream flowing through a valley remarkable for
beauty and fertility, and affording abundant water-power. The
public improvements are the Fond du Lac and Rock River railroad,
the Beloit and Madison railroad, the Racine and Janesville railroad,
and the Milwaukee and Mississippi railroad. Organized in 1839,
and named from its principal stream. The settlement began in
1836, and has progressed with great rapidity. Capital, Janesville.
Pop., 20,750.
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