Re-dedication ceremony Sept. 8-9 at Rockton’s Macktown Living History

A re-dedication of the Macktown Living History Site inside Macktown Forest Preserve, 2221 Freeport Road, Rockton, Ill., will be from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 8-9. (Photo provided)

Staff Report

ROCKTON, Ill. — Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 8-9, Macktown Living History will be celebrating several milestones in their history with a re-dedication ceremony and celebration.

The event will run from 1 to 4 p.m., both days, at the Macktown Living History Site inside Macktown Forest Preserve, 2221 Freeport Road, Rockton, Ill.

Stephen Mack, the area’s first white settler, established a trading post at the mouth of the Pecatonica and Rock rivers. The site became the community known as Pecatonic and later Macktown. Most buildings are now gone; however, two historic buildings remain — the Limestone Trading Post and Stephen Mack’s Home.

The trading post, built in the 1840s, has been restored and saved, thanks to the efforts of visionary concerned citizens. The ongoing care and restoration will be honored at a rededication ceremony of the Trading Post. A Native American village has been re-constructed on the site and is a breathtaking step back into the past. Re-enactors dressed in authentic garb will be on site to make visitors experience life as the First Nation’s people lived.

A Native American village has been re-constructed on the site and is a breathtaking step back into the past. Re-enactors dressed in authentic garb will be on site to make visitors experience life as the First Nation’s people lived. (Photo provided)

Free-will offerings will be accepted at the event. Call (815) 624-4200 for more information.

From the Sept. 5-11, 2012, issue