ROCK RIVER UNIVERSITY
Early in Dixon's history several schools of higher learning
served Dixon students and the surrounding areas of Lee County. As
early as 1855, a mere twenty-five years after the town's beginning, a
private school, the Dixon Collegiate Institute was started by the
Rock River Presbytery.
Rev. W. W. Harsha, a Presbyterian minister, became the first
director of the school. Interestingly enough it was first located in
the basement of the Lutheran Church, which was then located on
Crawford between Third and Fourth streets. Classes began on May 17,
1855.
On July 4th of that year the cornerstone of the Dixon Collegiate
Institute was laid. An endowment of $25,000 was established and the
citizens of Dixon donated the land on which it was built as well as
additional property and equipment which totaled some $12,000.
The school was located high on the hill overlooking the Rock
river on Dixon's East side. This was the area known as Bluff Park. It
would soon become one of the most prominent features of Dixon's
skyline. Our Dixon Public Hospital lies just West of this area.
Approximately 50 students were enrolled during the school's first
year. There were five instructors, one of which was E. C. Smith, who
would go on to become one of the best known educators in Dixon.
Professor Smith also helped in the establishment of the institute
and assisted in setting up the curriculum for the school. Classes
included Latin, Greek, German, French, mathematics, art, natural
sciences, philosophy and instrumental music. Mr. Smith would later
become associated with the Dixon Public Schools and served many years
as a school principal.
The first few years the school was attended by young men from
Dixon, but in 1861 Reverend Cooley from Wisconsin purchased the
building to establish a female seminary. There was very little
written about the success of the school during that period. By
September of 1863, the school came under the direction of Rev.
Lathrop and Rev. Tooke who changed the name to the Dixon seminary.
Under the management of these men, the school flourished for a number
of years,
On Nov. 1, 1875, just twenty years after its beginning, the name
of the school would be changed for the last time, to that of the Rock
River University. In 1877 enrollment was approximately 470 students
who could now enroll in normal, business, classical, scientific and
music courses at fees ranging from $3 to $10 per month, per course.
Between 1875 and 1879, the management of the university changed
three times. By 1880, Rock River University was at the end of its
brief history as a school of higher learning.
The building was used in 1881 when the Northern Illinois Normal
School and Dixon Business College started classes. Professor J. B.
Dille, a young educator and businessman from Indiana leased the
five-story brick building to begin classes. The original enrollment
was fifty- two that first year but the number of students grew
rapidly. The Dixon College moved to new buildings of their own which
were built on Dixon's West side in 1882.
What caused the school's demise? It was said that in a small town
a private school could not compete, and it should be remembered that
the founding of the Institute reflected the "boom town spirit" of
Dixon in 1855, the year that railroad service opened in Dixon. The
old five- story building in Bluff Park would stand empty until 1889
when it was torn down to make way for an area of fine homes.
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