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Rockford Illinois elite were attracted to an area just north of the city.

Jacoby Heights History

In the early 1900s, Charles W. Brown, a successful Illinois clothier, financed the building of three stately mansions along the Rock River, just south of the Spring Creek and near a road later named for the creek. The homes, one for each of his three daughters, were built next to the L.C. Jacoby mansion. After that, things started happening…

Military on horses resting by the Needham property in the Jacoby neighborhood in 1916. This photo looking west across the Rock River shows the “High Bridge,” later replaced by the Auburn Street bridge. Some early spring melts produced thick ice jams, and neighborhood men were called in to help “hold up the bridge” to keep the ice from damaging it. Intrigued by the commotion young Albert Needham and his cousin Katherine Needham, granddaughter of local entrepreneur Freeman Graham, are seated in the foreground.

The Brewery

1 Jacoby Place (South)
Site of a brewery from 1860, this property housed the Shoudy family and then the quickly expanding Keith Country Day School.

Williams Home

1 Jacoby Place (North)
Henry & Francis (Brown) Williams home. Hank and a few others started the Rockford Park District. He was quite a character.

L.C. Jacoby Home

2 Jacoby Place
Original neighborhood home built in 1856 and added to the National Historic Registry by world renown rock legend Rick (& Karen) Nielsen.

Green Home

3 Jacoby Place
Original home of Walter & Alice (Brown) Green. Walter’s life, was not typical of the refined elite. Brown marries Green.

Hicks Home

4 Jacoby Place
Senator Herbert & Florence Hicks built this “cottage” prior to their plans of building a bigger home. But tragedy struck.

Needham Home

6 Jacoby Place
Samual & Elizabeth (Brown) Needham home. 4 generations of the Needham family lived continuously in the neighborhood.

Other Notable Homes

Jacoby Place was not the only neighborhood street to house historic homes.