The Dixon archBreakfast in the beautiful dining roomA “Dutch Baby” – this was delicious!Pumpkin bread with cranberriesSausages, etc.Wings of Peace and Freedom, donated to the city of Dixon by Nick Taney, an immigrant to the US from Bulgaria, in gratitude for President Reagan’s part in ending the Cold War with the Soviet Union.Ronald Reagan equestrian statueThe Rock RiverInterestingly, Dixon was home to several people who made significant contributions to American life. Charles Walgreen, the founder of Walgreen’s Drug Store. The Walgreen family still owns the estate in Dixon.John Deere developed the steel plow in Dixon. Also, film director/actor Orson Welles was born just a few miles from Dixon.The Rock River at Lowell Park.Ronald Reagan was a lifeguard here for several years in the 1920s. He was credited for saving 77 lives in the Rock River here during those years.This is a statue of Abraham Lincoln in military uniform. Lincoln served in the military during the Blackhawk War in the early 1830s. He never saw any combat, but he was stationed here in Dixon during that time.After church, we ate lunch at Flynnie’s Diner, which was very good!
President Ronald Reagan Boyhood Home, Dixon IL
Ronald Reagan was the 40th president of the United States. He was president from 1981-1989. He is one of my favorite presidents. After four years of President Carter’s “malaise”, President Reagan ushered in a time of positive outlook, and a great turnaround of a sour economy and a depleted military. He spoke of the US as the “shining city on the hill”. I could talk about this president for hours, since I grew as a young adult and got married during his presidency.
This is the home in Dixon that Ronald Reagan lived for a few years during his childhood. He was an excellent athlete, and a superior swimmer. After graduating from Eureka College (IL) with a degree in Economics, he went on to become a radio announcer. As a radio announcer, he broadcast Chicago Cubs baseball games from a small radio station in Iowa. There was no live TV feed (not available yet), so he would receive the teletype throughout the games and announce that action as though he was actually watching it! While he was in California for Cubs spring training, he scored a screen test, and thus his acting career in Hollywood began! Reagan served several terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild, then went on to become governor of California in the late 1960s.This statue shows President Reagan looking at corn kernels.This was Reagan’s parents’ bedroom. None of the home’s furnishings are from the Reagans, but period pieces. Ronald and his brother Neil Reagan described what they remembered about the furnishings when the house was being prepared to become a museum.The Reagans actually had an indoor bathroom (not with these fixtures, however).Ronnie and Neil’s bedroom.Living room.Living room fireplace.When President Reagan visited Dixon in 1984, he recalled that as a child, he would hide his coins under this tile by the fireplace (for safekeeping). He reached down and place four pennies under the tile to demonstrate.Popcorn was a favorite snack of the Reagan boys.Dining room.When President Reagan visited Dixon in 1984, he ate lunch here. He sat at the left in this picture. The place at about 8 o’clock in the picture is the plate he ate from.Typical 1920s kitchen.The ice box in the center of the wall has a sign for “ICE”. The customer would place this sign in the window to indicate to the Ice Man how much ice was needed. Each ice block was 25 pounds.The inside of the “ice box”. The blocks were picked up with tongs similar to these.Ronnie Reagan and his friends played a lot of football in this yard beside the house.1919 Model T Ford similar to one the Reagans would have owned.Reagan attended this school.Reagan and his brother were both voracious readers. They would come to this library to check out books.The Reagans attended this church. Reagan’s mother was a Sunday School teacher here, as well as Ronald himself as he grew older.Dixon is a cute, well-maintained town.President Reagan was born here in Tampico IL, about 20 miles from Dixon.Reagan was born in an apartment on the second floor of this bank building. It was a bakery at the time Reagan was born, February 6, 1911. The room he was born in was the window to the left of the sign on the second floor.Plaque on the building. President Reagan was a determined proponent of individual liberty.The room where Reagan was born.This is the back porch of the apartment, with a window from the adjoining apartment. When Reagan was an infant/toddler, and his mother needed to step out to do chores, she would simply hand the child through the window to the neighbor to watch. When President Reagan visited in 1984, he crawled through the window, which he said was “the last time”.Mural on a building in Tampico ILWindmills along the Illinois countryside. They weren’t turning very much, some not at all.Illinois countryside.Illinois countryside.
