A Piece of Dixon History: Famous people visited Dixon’s Assembly Park

In part 1 on March 15, this column identified notables such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, John Philip Sousa, the Great Svingali, Clarence Darrow and William Jennings Bryan. Most of these performed at the Opera House, which burned in 1920 and was replaced by the Dixon Theatre.

In this column, we focus primarily on the major celebrities who came to Dixon from 1875 to 1925 and to the Rock River Assembly. Its local beginnings emerged from the Lutheran Church in 1888, when the Chautauqua movement of “intellectual and spiritual stimulation” came to Dixon.

After starting at Hazelwood, now the Walgreen Estate, the Assembly’s two weeks of summer events moved to the northeast section of town known today as Assembly Park. In 1899, an amazing round “dome” or tabernacle was built there with a capacity of 5,000.

The structure was the venue for many lectures and entertainers until its meetings ended in 1920. The dome later was used as a summer roller-skating rink until it succumbed to a fire in November 1949.

Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington, the former slave who became a noted educator, author and orator, came to Assembly Park on Aug. 2, 1900, and spoke on “The Negro Problem.”

“The Black man is here to stay,” he told the Dixon audience. “God’s way is the only way to settle this question. The Black man must be a Christian gentleman, and every white man must be the same, and the problem is solved.”

William Jennings Bryan

On July 27, 1907, William Jennings Bryan spoke at the dome as the guest of William Brinton, then a respected local leader, industrialist and well-connected politician. In his speech, Bryan spoke of his travels around the world.

Of his visit to Israel and Palestine he said, “For centuries, many of the devout have thought it a sacred duty to muse upon the same scenes that Christ looked upon; but the better way to walk in the footsteps of the savior is to walk about doing good.”

Billy Sunday

On Feb. 16, 2024, this column described the 1905 five-week revival by renowned Christian evangelist Billy Sunday. That event attracted about 150,000 people and was in a special tabernacle built in 1905 on the downtown lot now occupied by Kitzman’s Lumber.

Sunday spoke in Dixon on five other occasions, appearing once in 1931 at the Methodist Church downtown and four times at the Rock River Assembly dome in 1908, 1919, 1922 and 1932. His provocative speeches addressed a wide range of social ills, but alcohol was a common target.

Sunday has often been called a major force behind the national passage of Prohibition in 1920. But public support for Prohibition was fizzling by the time of his final Dixon speech at the dome on Aug. 15, 1932. Although a massive receptive crowd of 10,000 came to hear him, Prohibition would be repealed a year later.

‘Teddy’ Roosevelt

On May 10, 1905, then-President Theodore Roosevelt stopped in Dixon for a brief oration. In this case, the speech took place from the back of a train car at the Chicago & Northwestern train station, near today’s Department of Transportation building.

The president’s “whistle stop” attracted a crowd of 5,000, which included a large group of the city’s schoolchildren. In his message, Roosevelt praised schoolteachers: “It is to their patience, their constant care, their intelligence and judgement that we have to trust for supplementing … the work of the home and turning out boys and girls who will be the right type of men and women.”

A few years earlier, on Oct. 11, 1898, then-President William McKinley’s train also stopped briefly at the Dixon depot station, but McKinley did not offer a speech. McKinley’s 1898 visit, Roosevelt’s visit in 1905 and Ronald Reagan’s visit Feb. 6, 1984, may be the only times when a sitting president visited Dixon.

William Howard Taft

An estimated crowd of 8,000 heard former President William Howard Taft speak for 90 minutes on Aug. 5, 1917, at Assembly Park. Taft spoke on the reasons for America joining “the Great War” in Europe.

Former Dixon Mayor William Brinton met Taft at the train depot and took him to the stately Brinton mansion for lunch, prior to his address. The Telegraph noted how the Dixon crowd loved Taft, including “the Taft Laugh” and “the Taft Smile.”

It’s worth noting that President Ulysses S. Grant also came to Dixon and had dinner at the Nachusa House on Aug. 25, 1880. However, this visit was after his presidency, and it appears that no speech was given.

Most area towns can claim a visit by a famous person or two. But the list of notables who came to Dixon is indeed impressive.

Dixon’s attraction can be attributed to its central location on major thoroughfares and to its citizens’ willingness to invest in a suitable venue to accommodate these special occasions.

- Dixon native Tom Wadsworth is a writer, speaker and occasional historian. He holds a Ph.D. in New Testament.