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When the county was originally platted in 1851, it
was named Fox County. As the legislature assembled in 1853, the
county’s name was changed to Calhoun in honor of U.S. Vice President
John C. Calhoun. The county was officially organized in 1855
and Lake City was named the county seat. In 1870, the Illinois
Central Railroad was extended through the northern part of the county and
Manson and Pomeroy competed with Lake City for the county seat. A
compromise was reached in 1876 when voters approved Rockwell City, in the
center of the county as the new county seat.
Rockwell City’s initial spurt of growth came when
the railroad was extended from Jefferson in 1882. To entice the
railroad to come to Rockwell City, the town’s founders promised F.M.
Hubbell, the railroad’s owner half of the town lots. In 1918 the
state woman’s reformatory was built at Rockwell City.
The first settlers were from states to the east as
far as New England, and from the south. Foreign-born groups included
Germans, Swedes, Norwegians, Danes, Irish, Hollanders, English and Czechs.
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