Freeport, Illinois

==History==
The community was originally called '''Winneshiek'''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Chicago and North Western Railway Company|title=A History of the Origin of the Place Names Connected with the Chicago & North Western and Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railways|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OspBAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA74|year=1908|page=74}}</ref> When it was incorporated, the new municipality took its name from the generosity of [[Tutty Baker]], who was credited with running a "free port" on the [[Pecatonica River]]. The name "Winneshiek" was later adopted, and is preserved to this day, by the Freeport Community Theatre Group.

In 1837, Stephenson County was formed and Freeport became its seat of government in 1838. Linked by a stagecoach with [[Chicago]], the community grew rapidly. In 1840, a frame courthouse was erected and the first school was founded. Within two years, Freeport had two newspapers and in 1853, the two were joined by a third which published in German. By then, the community had a population of 2,000.

On August 27, 1858, the [[Lincoln-Douglas debates of 1858|second debate]] between [[Abraham Lincoln]] and [[Stephen A. Douglas]] took place in Freeport and gave the nation direction in the following years. Although Stephen Douglas won the election and retained his [[U.S. Senate]] seat, his reply to a question on slavery alienated the South, which called it the "[[Freeport Doctrine|Freeport Heresy]]", and split the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Guelzom |first=A. |year=2008 |title=Lincoln and Douglas: The Debates that Defined America |page=162 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-0-7432-7320-6}}</ref> This enabled Abraham Lincoln to win the Presidency in 1860.

A monument to the debate was dedicated in 1903 by President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] and stands at this site. A life size statue recreating the event was dedicated in 1992. Another renowned statue, ''Lincoln the Debator'' by [[Leonard Crunelle]], is a focal point in the city's Taylor Park. In many years there is also a reenactment of the debate, [[The Lincoln-Douglas Debates (1994 reenactments)|which has been shown]] on [[C-SPAN]].

Freeport is known as the "Pretzel City", and its public high school's team is named the Pretzels.  The nickname is a reminder of Freeport's ethnic heritage; in the late 1850s, many [[German-American|Germans]], both from Pennsylvania and from their European homeland, resettled in Stephenson County bringing with them their love of pretzel snacks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.illinois.com/details/city.php?cityFips=1727884 |title=Description of Freeport, Short History of Freeport |work=Illinois.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930074752/http://www.illinois.com/details/city.php?cityFips=1727884 |archive-date=September 30, 2011 }}</ref> In 1869, a German immigrant named John Billerbeck<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.genealogieonline.nl/en/stamboom-familie-eilders-is-samengesteld-door-b.-eilders/I96781.php|title=John Billerbeck (1835-1899) » Stamboom familie Eilders » Genealogie Online |first=B.|last=Eilders |work=Genealogie Online |access-date=September 27, 2015}}</ref> established the Billerbeck Bakery, which distributed so many pretzels to residents that the local newspaper later dubbed Freeport the "Pretzel City". The city later capitalized on this nickname in 2003 by starting Freeport's first Pretzel Festival.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-06-29/features/0706280746_1_local-ceiling-tasty |title=Let's twist again |work=Chicago Tribune |access-date=September 27, 2015 |url-status=live |archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20150927104841/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2007-06-29/features/0706280746_1_local-ceiling-tasty |archive-date=September 27, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://ilfbpartners.com/family/pretzel-city-festival-in-freeport/|title=Pretzel City Festival in Freeport |first=Blair |last=Thomas |work=Illinois Farm Bureau Partners |access-date=September 27, 2015}}</ref>

Before February 1893, a large square of land was purchased from the former Keller-Wittbecker farm in East Freeport.<ref name=History  /> Some of this land had been subdivided and platted as the "Arcade Addition", as Arcade Manufacturing used some of that square of land in 1893 to rebuild its factory after a fire in its original location had destroyed everything.<ref name=History>{{cite book |title=History of Stephenson County Illinois, Arcade Manufacturing Company |url=http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/addison-l-fulwider/history-of-stephenson-county-illinois--a-record-of-its-settlement-organizatio-wlu/page-64-history-of-stephenson-county-illinois--a-record-of-its-settlement-organizatio-wlu.shtml |page=510 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813043304/http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/addison-l-fulwider/history-of-stephenson-county-illinois--a-record-of-its-settlement-organizatio-wlu/page-64-history-of-stephenson-county-illinois--a-record-of-its-settlement-organizatio-wlu.shtml |archive-date=August 13, 2014 }}</ref> The Arcade Manufacturing Company had been in operation since 1885 when the previous [[Novelty Iron Works]] had gone out of business at the corner of Chicago and Jackson streets. That earlier company began as early as 1868. After the 1892 fire, the Arcade Manufacturing Company built an entirely new factory in the Arcade Addition of East Freeport, where they produced coffee mills and other metal products.

Freeport is home to the oldest [[Carnegie Library]] in Illinois<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.freeportpubliclibrary.org/mission-and-history/ |title=About Us: History  |work=Freeport Public Library |access-date=September 25, 2021 }}</ref> and one of the first Carnegie Libraries designed by the [[Chicago]] architectural firm of Patton and Miller. It was renovated into Freeport's city hall<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.journalstandard.com/news/20160824/freeport-carnegie-library-city-hall-renovations-on-schedule |title=Freeport Carnegie Library-City Hall renovations on schedule |first=Derrick |date=August 24, 2016 |last=Mason |newspaper=Journal-Standard |location=Freeport, Illinois |url-status=dead |access-date=September 25, 2021 |archive-date=September 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210926171025/https://www.journalstandard.com/news/20160824/freeport-carnegie-library-city-hall-renovations-on-schedule}}</ref> and city offices were moved to Carnegie City Hall in February 2017.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.rrstar.com/news/20170214/freeport-unveils-new-city-hall-in-renovated-carnegie-library-building |title=Freeport unveils new city hall in renovated Carnegie Library building |newspaper=Rockford Register Star |date=February 15, 2017 |first=Derrick |last=Mason |access-date=September 25, 2021 }}</ref>

The City of Freeport transitioned to the [[city manager]] form of government in May 2017.{{cn|date=December 2023}}