• As a young military officer, lawyer and aspiring politician, Abraham Lincoln frequented the communities along the byway.
• Abraham Lincoln visited Dixon and other nearby communities in 1858 during the Lincoln-Douglas debates for the U.S. Senate.
• Abraham Lincoln visited Dixon and other nearby communities in 1856 as he helped organize the Illinois Republican Party based on the principle that “slavery was a vastly powerful, sinister force that had captured the federal government and was fast extending its tentacles into the western territories, and threatened even Illinois” (Jensen).
• Ronald Reagan grew up in Dixon before moving on to a career that culminated in his presidency.
• Ronald Reagan championed conservative ideals and was instrumental in ending the Cold War.
• John Deere opened the prairies to modern agriculture by the development of his “selfpolishing” plow. This is the story of Yankee ingenuity and American industrial development.