Free Republic

ST. LOUIS (AP) There's no money to start building a new Mississippi River bridge, but the $1.6 billion project has a proposed name: The Ronald Wilson Reagan Memorial Bridge. Lawmakers in Illinois, Missouri and the nation's capital have discussed an eight-lane bridge north of the Edward Jones Dome for more than a decade. The Missouri Legislature will consider bills this session that would make Ronald Wilson Reagan Memorial Bridge the official title. Missouri Sen. John Loudon, R-Ballwin, who is sponsoring bill, said he believes the name will be embraced in Illinois because Reagan was born there. But Illinois lawmakers have...

EUREKA, Ill. (AP) It stayed open even as most of its students left to fight the Civil War. It remained open during the Great Depression, when many poor families paid tuition in poultry and livestock, and awarded a scholarship and a campus job to a young man who didn't have much money named Ronald Reagan. This weekend, Eureka College celebrates its 150th anniversary a milestone reached by just 260 of more than 4,000 colleges and universities in the nation. ``Not a lot of places can say they've been around for 150 years,'' said theater arts and drama professor Bill Davis....

STERLING, Ill. (AP) A man who lives to be 94 years old is bound to have some good stories to tell. Harold Eshleman certainly does. The lifelong Sterling resident has had more than his share of special experiences in his life, especially in his athletic career at Sterling High School in northwestern Illinois and at the University of Iowa, where he lettered in basketball in 1932 and 1933. In his playing days he suited up against both a future political legend, Ronald Reagan, and a future coaching legend, John Wooden. Eshleman, in his Hall-of-Fame career at SHS, was the star...

DIXON, Ill. (AP) Ronald Reagan's death has drawn a steady stream of cars down the rural highways leading to Dixon, Tampico and Eureka, the often forgotten small towns where the only Illinois-born president grew up playing football and dreaming of Hollywood. Five times the usual number of tourists have crossed the porch of Reagan's boyhood home in Dixon daily since his death. Hundreds of others have discovered the Reagan collection at Eureka College, where he graduated in 1932. ``Whenever anyone passes away, it's a time of reflection. I think people want to touch and feel and have a connection,'' said...

Some of the sites on the Ronald Reagan Trail, created in 1999 to trace the roots of the only U.S. president born in Illinois: ^Reagan Birthplace Location Tampico. Address 111 S. Main Street. Significance: Reagan was born in the second-story apartment on Feb. 6, 1911. The 1,700-square-foot apartment has been restored, and work is under way to convert the first floor into a museum. Hours 10-4 Monday-Saturday, 1-4 Sunday (through Nov. 30). Admission Free. ^Reagan Boyhood Home Location Dixon. Address 816 S. Hennepin Avenue. Significance Reagan was 9 when his family moved to Dixon, where he went to school, attended...

TAMPICO -- At 3:08 PM CST on Friday afternoon, the airplane carrying President Ronald Reagan's body back to his final resting place in Simi Valley, California, will tip its wings as it flies over Reagan's birthplace in the heart of Illinois, the little town of Tampico.

Hundreds of people gathered Thursday in this central Illinois town where Ronald Reagan grew up, played ball and spent summers as a lifeguard to remember the life of the nation's only president born in Illinois. "He was the leader of the most powerful nation on earth but he never forgot his small-town roots," said the Rev. Bob Jones of St. Patrick's Catholic Church. At the First Christian Church, where Reagan was baptized at age 11 on June 21, 1922, more than 100 invited guests jammed into the pews, including dignitaries such as U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Gov. Rod...

June 8, 2004 (Springfield) — A stretch of Interstate 88, which passes near Ronald Reagan's birthplace and his boyhood home, was renamed Tuesday in honor of the late president. Gov. Rod Blagojevich issued an executive order declaring part of I-88 the "Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway." The east-west interstate runs along the southern edge of Dixon, where Reagan grew up, and 10 miles north of Tampico, where the nation's 40th president was born in 1911 in a four-room apartment over the general store. "Now, when people drive on I-88, they'll remember Ronald Reagan and everything he did for our country," Blagojevich...

DUTCH: A Tribute to a Great Illinoisan There are so many Reagan tribute threads on FR after his recent death, that I decided mine better be pretty unique. After all, we've seen the same photos, quotes, and highlights over and over again. This is a special thread dedicated to my fellow Illinois freepers and to all Illinois conservatives. People often think of Reagan as a "Californian" -- simply because he rose to power in Hollywood. But the first -- and ONLY -- President born in the great state of Illinois was Ronald Wilson Reagan. Throughout his life, he lived...

PEORIA - Former President Ronald Reagan's death Saturday means the passing of a highly influential president and a gifted communicator, U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood said Saturday. And those who knew him more intimately, surviving fellow classmates at Eureka College, said they'll remember Reagan as a charismatic, highly involved classmate with strong ties to his school - and one determined to make $5,000 a year. Reagan, the nation's 40th president who served from 1981 to 1989, died Saturday afternoon at 93 after a long struggle with Alzheimer's disease. Reagan lived longer than any U.S. president and was the only president born...

DIXON, Ill. (AP) Residents in this small town, where a young Ronald ``Dutch'' Reagan grew up and became a local legend by saving dozens of lives as a teenage lifeguard on the Rock River, remembered their native son Saturday as a hero who never lost his small-town values. In Dixon, where Reagan attended church and graduated from Dixon High School, residents said it is likely to be a somber time even though Reagan's death has long been anticipated. ``He was our hero, he was our hometown boy made good,'' said Wanita Trader, the chairman at the First Christian Church, which...