Garrison School in Rockford-- Part 3: Find a New Use

Developers Chandler Anderson and Joseph Morrissey took over the property in the mid-2000s and spent $6 million transforming the Garrison School and its surrounding property into 14 upscale lofts and townhomes.

Though they transformed much of the surrounding land. the developers preserved much of the original schoolhouse and gym, integrating exposed brick, reclaimed wood flooring and steel beams into these private residences.

In case you're interested in buying one of the townhomes, there is one listed on Trulia with 3 bedrooms, two baths and 2,717 feet of area,  It is listed at $256,900.

Studio GWA has many pictures of the lofts.  They are beautiful.

Great to have adaptive uses instead of tearing down significant structures like this.

--Cooter

Garrison School in Rockford, Illinois-- Part 2: Growth and Closure

Garrison School doubled in size in 1892, and a gymnasium was added in 1920 for physical education, school assemblies, community programs and elections.

A one-story octagonal  structure with a library at its center and six classrooms surrounding it, was added onto the north side of the building in 1969.  (I am willing to bet it was part of the "open classroom" concept that was pushed so much back then.  The classrooms only had walls  between them and weren't separate.  It was hard to conduct classes with the noise levels.  Thus becoming another in a long series of ideas to "better" education.)

Garrison was one of nine buildings abandoned in 1989 when the school district had to close a $9 million budget deficit.

--DaCoot

Making New Use of Old Stuff: Garrison School Lofts-- Part 1

From the Northwest Quarterly magazine 2024.

I am all for finding new uses for old buildings rather than tearing them down, especially when they are architecturally significant.

GARRISON SCHOOL LOFTS, 1105 North Court Street, Rockford, Illinois.

Near the end of the 19th century, Rockford was growing quickly as families moved in, so did their kids.  There was great pressure on providing schools for them.  Several new schools opened around this time, including Garrison School which just had four rooms when it opened in 1887.

It was named for Thomas Garrison, a real estate developer from New Jersey, who in 1853 settled in Rockford's Signal Hill neighborhood where the school is located.

Of interest, the school's first four principals were women.  The first principal. Lizzi Shaw, ran the school until 1891.

--Cooter

Spanish Flu Outbreak 1918-- Part 5: Struck at Camp Grant First in the Area

The first cases to hit the northern Illinois area were identified at Camp Grant  in Rockford.  Some newspapers speculated that Boone County actually had cases of Spanish flu as early as February 1918, but local doctors misdiagnosed then as secondary effects of the scarlet fever.

By October of 1918, though, the deadly virus was everywhere.  Due to the close proximity of soldier living quarters at Camp Grant in Rockford, hundreds were admitted every day to the military hospital there.  There was a record 768 hospitalizations in one day.

There were so many deaths that officers decided not to broadcast the total number to avoid a general public panic.  Military vehicles were used as ambulances for the camp and for Winnebago and surrounding counties, including Boone.

Here in Belvidere, schools, churches and theaters were closed before the sate banned attendance at any public gatherings effective October 18, 1918.  Once the state ban took effect, funerals, weddings, lodge meetings, government meetings/councils and hospital visits were not allowed.

The state also mandated masks for anyone in contact with the public outside of their own families.

--DaCoot

A Marauding Herd of Cattle and Polio in DeKalb County

August 5, 2020, MidWeek (DeKalb County, Illinois)  "Looking Back."

1920, 100 Years Ago.

"The owner of a herd of cattle that was taken to the police station on a charge of having trampled the garden of O.S. Greenwood is Albert Ashelford and he was brought into the local police station yesterday and  assessed a fine for allowing his cattle to run loose."

From Find-A-Grave.  Albert Ashelford was born 16 June 1867 in DeKalb Co., Illinois, died 22 December 1922 (age 84) in DeKalb County and is buried in Fairview Cemetery in DeKalb, Illinois.

1945, 75 Years Ago.

"Those polio cases in Rockford are causing Sycamore people to use every precaution with their youngsters.  Sycamore had its share of polio two years ago and doesn't want it again."

Disease problems even back then in this age of the coronavirus.

--Cooter

The Spanish Flu Hits Illinois in 1918-- Part 1: Railroad Hub Contributes in Chicago

From the February 12, 2006, Flu Tackers"The Great Pandemic of 1918:  State By State."

The Great Pandemic of 1918 also touched Illinois.

Chicago was then the country's second largest city and the country's largest rail hub.  As a consequence, the disease hit the city quickly.  Before it hit, overconfident health department people proclaimed:  "We have the Spanish influenza  situation well in hand now."

Then the disease came.

Influenza was reported in Chicago on September 27th.  Within two weeks, it was epidemic throughout the state.  Cities like Kankakee and Rockford were also hard hit as were rural areas and coal-mining spots throughout the state.

But, Chicago saw the worst impacts.  While the pandemic raged to its peak, the city saw an average of 12,000 new cases each week.  More than 2,100 Chicagoans died during the second week of October.  More than 2,300 died in the third week.

--Cooter

Opening of Swedish American Hospital in Rockford in 1918

From the July 25, 2018, MidWeek  "Looking Back."

1918, 100 Years Ago.

"Formal opening of the Swedish-American hospital in Rockford, where Dr. T. Arthur Johnson is head physician, will take place on Sunday and Monday next.

"Cards have been sent out inviting DeKalb and vicinity people to attend.  The hospital, located at 1320 Charles street, Rockford is one of the finest in Illinois with a large corps of attendants."

The hospital is still in Rockford which has many people of Swedish descent living there.

--Cooter