Rock Cut State Park - History

History

During the 17th century, Native Americans that were driven from the East by the Iroquois Confederacy settled in today’s Northern Illinois. These Natives were originally in the region south of Lake Michigan and spoke Miami. The land in which they settled became Rock Cut State Park. The region was occupied by the Mascouten between the mid-17th century to the early-to- mid-18th century. After the Mascouten lost influence on the land, it was taken up by the Winnebago.

It is after this tribe, that the county in Illinois where the park is located is named. This land became the property of the United States as a result of Indian concessions after the Black Hawk War. Once under American control, the Scots that settled around Argyle which led to the Scottish settlement in Northern Illinois, along with some westward bound New Yorkers and New Englanders. The New Yorkers and New Englanders that made a settlement in this region now known as Rock Cut established a town known as Harlem. It was named after New York’s own Harlem. The land acquisition proposition was made by Representative Pierce of Rockford, IL near the park, after whom the most popular fishing spot in the park known as Pierce Lake. The proposition was made in 1955 and the park was officially in existence two years later in 1957 on October 25.