Boutique & Gifts
• White ceramic mug with colorful graphics
• Packaged in a sturdy, graphic box; ready for gift giving!
• Dishwasher & Microwave Safe
• Dimensions: 3 3/4 tall x 3" diameter
• Holds 11 ounces
green enameled stainless steel mug
• Dimensions: 3" tall x 3" diameter
• Hand wash only
• Not for use in microwave oven
• Holds 10 ounces
• White ceramic mug with colorful graphics
• Packaged in a sturdy, graphic box; ready for gift giving!
• Dishwasher & Microwave Safe
• Dimensions: 3 3/4 tall x 3" diameter
• Holds 11 ounces
What do you really know about Rockford, Illinois? Secret Rockford pulls back the curtain to reveal the hidden side of life in the Forest City. Join us as we go behind the headlines to explore the interesting people, places, and events that make our city unique. On these pages you will find the unconventional, gritty, and sometimes shocking truth. This anthology contains many snapshots of life in Rockford: A history of Mattison Machine Works. The battle over a mural in Roosevelt Middle School. The story of a simple basketball game with a shoeless youth. The truth about local connections to organized crime. Infamous murders. The day Santa Claus fell from the sky. All are merely a peek behind the curtain, but each contains meaningful truths about our Rockford experience. Men and women from all walks of life have come together to share their stories in this anthology. They are journalists, teachers, writers, photographers, entrepreneurs, or just average citizens who are being published for the first time. All have a deep and abiding interest in their community.
Contributors include Jeff Havens, Brandon Reid, Kathi Kresol, Jim Phelps, Kevin Rilott, Dan Creviston, Ted Biondo, D.B. Lane, Ernie Fuhr, Heath Alberts, Nicole Lindsay, Stanley Campbell, Karen Mahieu Lyddon, Scott Farrell, Jami Beck, and Michael Kleen. This is our story. This is Secret Rockford.
Just beneath the glossy surface of Rockford's rich heritage lies a dark history of tragedy. The city's troubled and turbulent past left scars that still resonate today. Geraldine Bourbon's final struggle still echoes throughout the farmhouse where her estranged husband pursued her with a pistol from room to room before gently laying her corpse on the bed. The sobs of society darling Carrie Spafford still keep vigil over the family plot of the cemetery where she sowed the heartbreak of her twilight years. From the vengeance of Chief Big Thunder to the Witch of McGregor Road, author Kathi Kresol shares the legends and lore of Rockford's haunted history.
128 pages.
Rockford rightly prizes its prosperous heritage, earned by manufacturing concerns like the Rockford Watch Factory and the Manny Reaper Company. But the town once named Midway also harbors a history of crime and calamity.
Gunfire broke out in the streets when networks of Prohibition informants slid sideways. In 1893, John Hart forced his own sisters to drink poison. Three years later, James French shot down his wife in the street. Over the years, a courthouse collapsed, a factory exploded and trains collided. Join local historian Kathi Kresol as she explores the mayhem milling about in Rockford's past.
About the Author
Kathi Kresol has been researching Rockford's history for the past ten years. She shares the fascinating stories she uncovers through her website at www.hauntedrockford.com, her "Voices from the Grave" column in the Rock River Times weekly newspaper and through her Haunted Rockford tours. Kathi is a member of Rockford Historical Society and has worked at the Rockford Public Library for years and loves sharing her enthusiasm for history and reading in any way possible.
This book, as the title suggests, focuses on tales meant to be at least a little scary and all set in the greater Rockford, Illinois area (stretching as far afield as the Southern Chicago area). It includes non-fiction, fictionalized non-fiction and fiction stories. Including contributions from Heath D. Alberts, Ernie Fuhr, Diane Hill, Gary Hill and Kathi Kresol, this collection also includes lots of photos.
