Dean-Hey Heritage

Sinnissippi Mounds
Hopewell Indians, about 2,000 years ago

Sterling founder, Hezekiah Brink, noted the burial mounds in 1834 when he arrived. In 1877, W. C. Holbrook undertook a scientific investigation of the mounds and published his findings. Sadly, the mounds were subsequently looted. Sinnissippi Mounds is listed in the National Register of Historical Places.

Sterling History & Culture
Sterling features several interesting and remarkable historical and cultural sites.

Sinnissippi Mounds
Lake Sinnissippi (Rock River) in distance below

Sinnissippi Mounds Marker

Located less than a mile from our house, these mounds were a regular presence in our lives as we whizzed by them on our bikes, or walked carefully between them (Mother and Dad insisted that we not walk on Indian graves) when we scaled the limestone bluffs below. Note Sinnissippi Bayou in the foreground, and beyond the tracks Lake Sinnissippi formed by the Upper Dam on the Rock River.

Hezekiah Brink, founder of Sterling, 1834
Hezekiah Brink Mural
(corner of East 2nd Street / 1st Avenue)

Hezekiah Brink Biography

Hezekiah Brink Home
611 16th Avenue

Hezekiah Brink Park
Broadway Boulevard, Sterling

Hezekiah Brink Grave
Riverside Cemetery, Sterling

Lincoln Speech Memorial
Central Park, Sterling

Abraham Lincoln
July 18, 1856

Boulder Monument
Porch from which Lincoln spoke

Central School Facade Bench
A Central Park bench, only reminder of Central School
where Mom went to elementary school.

Lincoln Speech Marker
Central Park, Sterling

Colonel Robert Wilson Home
(next to corner house, where Lincoln spoke)

With Lincoln, Robert Wilson was a fellow member of the "Long Nine" of the Illinois legislature in the 1830's. Though Lincoln was the tallest at 6' 4", the "Long Nine" averaged 6' in height, an unusual average for the era. The group is most remembered for leading the change of the capital from Vandalia to Springfield.

Lincoln-Manahan House
A republican party elector, Lincoln was campaigning for the Republican nominee, John Fremont. Lincoln was to stay overnight at the home of Robert Wilson, a fellow member of the "Long Nine" of the Illinois legislature. But Wilson's wife was injured in a fall from a horse, so Lincoln stayed with Sheriff William Manahan.

Steam Engine, Tender, Caboose
P. W. Dillon loved steam engines, and operated them far beyond their functional era. The last industrial steam engine operating in the United States, No. 73 made its last run in 1980 and was moved to the Dillon Home grounds.

Paul W. Dillon Home
Northwestern Steel & Wire Co.

Dillon Home
P W. was born in this house in 1883, and lived there until his death in 1980. The family donated the home to the Sterling Park District.

W. M. (Washington) Dillon founded the Northwestern Barbed Wire Co. in 1879 and produced barbed wire, bale ties, drawn wire, and nails. In 1936, W.M.'s son, P. W. (Paul) installed electric furnaces and rolling machines to produce steel. By 1938, the company was known as Northwestern Steel & Wire Co. Added in 1971 and 1976, two 400 ton Electro-Melt furnaces were the largest furnaces in the world. By 1979, NWSW reached its peak employment of 4,678 workers. The steel depression of the 1980's commenced the long, steady decline of NWSW which closed forever in 2001.

Cover of 1960 Annual Report

Grandon Civic Center
For decades, the Sterling Municipal Symphony Band has played Wednesday "Music Under the Stars" summer concerts in Central Park. Area residents still fill the park for this community event.

Lady Zouaves
Sterling hosts many murals. One of them, in sight of the Grandon Civic Center, recalls the Lady Zouaves, a 1917 women's acrobatics drill team.

Lincoln Elementary School
All 3 of us boys attended Lincoln Elementary School.

SHS Alumni Memorial
Commemorating SHS alumni who gave their lives for America.

Sterling High School
Some of SHS's striking architecture: fieldhouse entrance (left) and auditorium (right). All 3 of us boys graduated from Sterling High School.

Sterling High School Stadium
A WPA project.