Thursday, November 29, 2007 The Rockford files By Henrylito D. Tacio
A CITY of Gardens, a Region of Four Rivers, and Smile Capital of the United States--these are just some of the descriptions bestowed on Rockford, the third largest city in Illinois after Chicago and Springfield (at least in population).
Rockford is the city where stayed for a day on our way from Ohio to Minnesota.
"Our city is chock-full of original restaurants, sites, attractions, events and other activities that you can only experience here and around Rockford," says Mayor Lawrence J. Morrissey.
For the uninformed, here's a little bit of history. Rockford was founded in 1834 by Germanicus Kent as the village of Midway because it was approximately midway between his home of Galena and the city of Chicago.
A land speculator, Kent established a settlement on the west side of the Rock River and was soon joined by Daniel Shaw Haight, who established a town on the east side of the Rock.
While the settlements quickly became known as Kentville and Haightville, the area continued to be recognized as Midway until 1837 when the founders and several respected members of the communities met in Chicago and officially changed Midway's name to its present name.
Rockford is considered a world-class family town. From a beautifully restored T. rex with a dangerous grin to a fun-filled children's museum to the largest water park in Illinois, it's all here in Rockford.
If you happen to visit this city, your first stopover should be the Burpee Museum of Natural History. Established in 1941, it opened to the public the following year.
But there's much more to do and see at the museum CNN dubbed "the little museum that could" in downtown Rockford.
There's the combined state-of-the-art technology, which created a two-story tall prehistoric coal forest displaying local landscape, insects, and amphibians when they existed 300 million years ago. At the "Ordovician Sea," you see fossils and displays relating to life in the Midwest as it was found 455 million years ago.
Right next door to Burpee Museum is the Discovery Center, the only museum rated in the Top Ten in the state of Illinois. Boasting 18,000 square feet of interior exhibit space and an 8,000 square foot "Outdoor Science Park," it is full of over 250 exciting hands-on exhibits for children and adults alike.
If swimming is your liking, then go to Magic Waters Water Park, the second largest publicly owned waterpark in the United States. Whether it's slithering down 11 slides, tubing in the lazy river or just soaking up rays, fun is the order of the day.
After swimming, you can wander your way through the leafy sanctuary of Anderson Japanese Gardens, rated as North America's finest. Here you'll see no signs identifying plant species or descriptions of their meaning in Japanese culture.
By the way, the seed of inspiration to create this sanctuary was sown in businessman and philanthropist John Anderson's imagination during a 1966 trip to Japan. The garden is designed and built by world-renowned landscape architect Hoichi Kurisu in the Kamakura style.
For golf enthusiasts, Rockford is a haven. It's often said there's a church - and a golf course - on every corner in Rockford. Among the famous ones are the Sinnissippi, Elliot, Atwood Homestead, Macktown, and The Ledges. Aldeen Golf Club, the city's crown jewel and a true championship track, was rated 4.5 stars by "Golf Digest" magazine.
Outside Rockford, you can visit the breathtaking Tinker Swiss Cottage. A rare example of Victorian exotic architecture, it was built by early Rockford industrialist and Rockford mayor Robert Tinker.
Parquet floors, ornate woodwork, murals, sculptures, spiral staircase, with the family's original furnishings and belongings in place. Recently, the Cottage completed restoring the suspension bridge first built across Kent Creek in 1870.
