From press release

OREGON, Ill.—Join the Oregon Area Chamber of Commerce and the Illinois Lincoln Highway Coalition for the dedication of the Interpretive Mural in Oregon, Ill., at 5 p.m., July 16, at 103 W. Washington. This is one event during Oregon Trail Days Festival, celebrating the upcoming 2011 centennial birthday for the statue Black Hawk.

State senators Tim Bivins and Brad Burzynski and state representatives Jerry Mitchell, Jim Sacia and Bob Pritchard will host the dedication. The first 100 dedication attendees will receive stamped postcards of the mural, and the Oregon Chamber will record the postcards’ destinations with a push-pin world map.

During the mural dedication, the Ogle County Historical Society will authenticate the answers to the throw questionnaire and draw the winner of the throw.

At the reception in the Chamber office, 303 W. Washington, Oregon, Ill., following the dedication, memorabilia of Black Hawk Statue from the Harry Nurmet estate will be on display, including framed, signed Black Hawk sketches of the statue and the 150-year Oregon anniversary postcard.

The mural is on the side of the building owned and donated by Tim and Kim Krug, Main Street Machines, and is one of the next 40 to be installed in the Illinois Lincoln Highway National Scenic Byway over the next three years. Local co-sponsor, Zimmerman Construction, donated time and materials for the mural framework and helped Shaw Sign Company, Belvidere, install the mural. The mural pictures an E.D. Etnyre circa 1910 automobile, motoring along under the Black Hawk statue.

Oregon, Ill., is included in the Illinois Lincoln Highway National Scenic Byway corridor because it has been a sightseeing destination from the Lincoln Highway since 1924. In the 1924 Guide of the Lincoln Highway, Oregon and its beautiful river scenery are listed as “a delightful side trip.” Travelers along the newly-completed paved Lincoln Highway were encouraged to take sightseeing trips to nearby rural areas. In the early days of the highway, just as today, Oregon’s breathtaking beauty, rich art and cultural heritage attracted many visitors.

The text of the new mural explains the connection of Oregon and the Lincoln Highway National Scenic Byway:

Sightseeing along the

Lincoln Highway Corridor

“The official road guide of the Lincoln Highway, 1924 edition, stated ‘Delightful side trips can be made…up the beautiful Rock River.’

“One reason for taking the trip to Oregon was to see the colossal statue of Blackhawk—standing 48 feet tall on the bluffs over the Rock River. Dedicated in 1911, it was created by Lorado Taft and is the second-largest cement statue in the world. The statue was Taft’s gift to the people of Illinois, with financial help from Frank Lowden, after whom Lowden State Park is named.”

From the July 14-20, 2010 issue