What to See in Rockford - Top Sights and Attractions

Nonprofit. Klehm Arboretum & Botanic Garden is a nonprofit arboretum and botanical garden located at 2715 South Main Street, Rockford, Illinois.

The arboretum was established in 1910 as Rockford Nursery by landscape architect William Lincoln Taylor, who planted many of the arboretum's trees. The Klehm family purchased the nursery in 1968 and maintained it until 1985, when they donated the property to the Winnebago County Forest Preserve District as an arboretum. In the early 1990s, the site was inventoried, a master plan developed, and a capital campaign undertaken. Garden plantings began in 1994.

The arboretum includes a pre-settlement Bur Oak grove (5 ha / 12 acres) whose largest trees are estimated to be over 300 years old. It also includes over 50 species and cultivars of Conifers, representing nine groups from North America, Europe, and Asia, such as Firs, Junipers, Spruces, Pines, Douglas Fir, Yews, Arborvitae, Hemlock, Nikko Firs, Meyer's Spruce, Common Juniper, Arborvitae, and the Threadleaf Sawara Falsecypress.

The European collection includes mature Norway Maple, Field Maple, Pedunculate Oak, English Elm, European Beech, Common Horsechestnut, Mountain Pine and Scots Pine, as well as European Larch, European Hornbeam and Spindle Tree. The East Asian collection includes Cork Trees, Japanese Red and White Magnolia, Flowering Quince, and various Honeysuckles. The Northern America collection includes American Beech, Yellow Buckeye, Cucumbertree Magnolia, Tulip Tree, Ponderosa Pine, Colorado Spruce, and Douglas Fir.

Other woody plants include Basswood, Red Buckeye, Black Cherry, American Chestnut, Dogwood, Fringe Tree, Hackberry, Hemiptelea, Japanese Pagoda Tree, Shagbark Hickory, Umbrella Magnolia, Scarlet Oak, White Oak, Redbud, Carolina Silverbell, Sourwood, Sweetgum, Viburnum, Black Walnut, and Wisteria.

The gardens include a Butterfly Garden, Daylily Garden, multiple Demonstration Gardens, Fountain Garden, Grass Garden, Hosta Garden, the Nancy Olson Children's Garden, the Ethel Johnson Lilac Garden, and a Prehistoric Garden (with Cycads, Baldcypress, Ferns, Ginkgo, Horsetails, Mosses, Bristlecone Pine, and Dawn Redwood).^[9]

History museum in Rockford, Illinois. Veterans Memorial Hall and Museum one of the oldest museums in Winnebago County, is located one block west of the Rock River in downtown Rockford. Construction on the Hall began in 1901 and was finished in 1902, but dedication was delayed. On June 3, 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt. visited Rockford for the opening and dedication of what was then known as Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall. Although initially conceived to honor Winnebago County veterans of the Mexican War, Civil War, and Spanish-American War, supporters of the hall adapted it to honor Winnebago County veterans of all decades. Veterans Memorial Hall is one of the few veteran's memorials that is not just a monument. Veterans Memorial Hall and Museum is a living memorial to Veterans from all wars, educating the public through programing, events and outreach. It will serve as a constant reminder to the sacrifices given by brave men and women from Winnebago County and a way for generations to remember and learn about their lives. The building is administered by the Winnebago County Board.^[13]

The Rockford Woman's Club is a women's club headquartered at 323 Park Avenue in Rockford, Illinois. The club was founded in 1897; originally known as the Federation of Woman's Clubs of Rockford, it united the city's nearly 20 active women's clubs into one organization. Women's clubs were popular nationwide in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and typically promoted women's rights and suffrage, community service, and the arts; the Rockford club was no different, as it created the city's first school lunch program and advocated for women's suffrage and eight-hour workdays. The club built a permanent clubhouse in 1918, which included an 800-seat community theater and a restaurant; the building has served as its headquarters ever since. Architects Tallmadge and Watson designed the Neoclassical building, while sculptor Nancy Cox-McCormack designed two bas-relief panels for its exterior. The restaurant, known as the Food Shop, became popular enough to merit an addition to the building in 1938; it operated until 1998, when the space was rented to a private restaurant.

The club building was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 31, 2020.^[15]