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11:56 Angelo’s bakes their pizza in 100+ year-old bakery ovens that were old when they bought them. We used to drive from 7th Ave and 13th Street in Sterling all the way to this location in the late 1960’s (before they had other locations) just to get pizzas and their Italian bread.
Great Video....That area is a shell of what I remember as a kid. When the Steel Mill was thriving that little metropolis was bustling. From the downtowns to the mall. It was alive. Sad to see what has become of Sterling/Rock Falls. I Moved to Southern California in the late 90's but will always think of Rock Falls as home.
Good video. Brings back memories. Not sure if you know this, but Sterling is home to Wahl Clipper Corp. I'm sure the place has expanded a few times, but its always been one of those major employers.
There are a couple of the old steam locomotives you mentioned still nearby. One in the backyard of a mansion-turned museum and another old rusty one parked on the siding behind a grain elevator in nearby Galt. Also some abandoned stately old homes near 3rd/2nd street in Sterling.
Where is the one in Galt exactly? I was lookin for it on Google maps and I couldn't find it. There's a few grain elevators around there which one has it?
I really enjoyed this video, thank you for the upload. It's been many years now since I've been to Sterling/Rock Falls good to see the place again even if it is by video. You put these videos together so well it's the next best thing to being there. I see a lot of things are still there. I plan on being out there this summer. I've always like it there and I always though for the size of the town Temple Sholom was a big plus for the community. I lived many years in Freeport and I use to think now and then of moving to Sterling/Rock Falls. I may move back to Illinois if I can get over the thought of the taxes. These videos are a big help in looking into these towns. Thank you for what you do.
Hey i used to live in Freeport too but had to move since it got so bad as an adult but i was born in Sterling & spent some of my childhood in Rockfalls. Because of this video, i went traveled back to Sterling/Rockfalls today & found it to be much nicer than Freeport.
Best American food in sterling “ Candlelight Inn” ChickensGeorge plate chicken is amazing live in California no one has this style chicken can’t wait to go back travel and try it one day after COVID 👍🏻
The biggest hurts in Whiteside County were part of the reason I left Illinois. Northwestern Steel went under in 2001 after being limped along by the State of Illinois for 6 years beforehand in tax breaks. The replacement for it only uses about 1/2 the original footprint of the site. When you drove into Sterling, you split between the two buildings of the former National Tool site. I don't know if any of it is still used today, but it's now owned by Stanley Black and Decker, and most of it is made overseas. Their more modern factory was outside of Rock Falls on 30 going East. It's gone. General Electric used to have a large switch and gear plant in Morrison, also in Whiteside Co but west of you. It downsized through the 90s and finally closed for good in 2010.
At 25:30 on the right side are the 'Patterson Row' apartments (original name), built in 1877. Enlarged with a kitchen, indoor bathroom, and extra bedroom ca 1890. Still occupied up through the 1990's, I believe. Full basement, coal room, 2 stories, then full attic with spiral stairway leading to it. Very interesting vintage buildings, now decrepit, sadly.
My hometown! I was born in Sterling and went to the Elementary schools in Rockfalls and loved going swimming at Lawrence park pool and the Rec center in Sterling back in 1980, We left when I was 12 yrs old and moved to Western Kentucky, but I do go back every other summer if we can, but thank you for this!!! Awesome job!
Nice to see you also drove past the home my father grew up in in the 1920s and the building that housed his dental practice from 1950s-1980's and even later in the video passed my brother's current dental practice. With the outsourcing of manufacturing to Asia that occurred in the 1980s, this once "hardware capital of the world" has become a shadow of what it was in the 1960s-early 1980s, like so many small towns across America and especially in the "industrial midwest."
One (sad) thing this video failed to capture is the absolute infestation of video slots/video poker that's taken over this beautiful small town. I took a road trip out there to get a sandwich and meet up with my sister and asked when it happened, apparently within the last few years and then just spread like wildfire. For anyone willing to travel for a great sandwich, go to Arthurs Garden Deli and get a "Work of Art," you won't regret it. The Sterling location is the best IMO.
@@ChrisHarden I was either on too many drugs or not enough when I watched this the first time because I don’t remember a lot of the stuff you mentioned in this video. I saw that you did mention the Wahl Company. A few years ago the actor that played Al Boreland on Home Improvement with Tim Allen did a series of tv ads for the Wahl Company. I’ll have to stop watching this stuff when I’m tired or something because I feel like I never watched this video before. 😵💫
At the end of the video you wind up in front of the former Bergners Department Store. Bergners also had a store at Cherryvale In Rockford. The whole company went bankrupt a few years ago and all their stores closed.
As a kid I remember visiting my aunt and uncle who lived in Sterling. On of my memories was the ghastly orange color in the air because of the steel mill. The residents of Sterling very early adapted to the automatic clothes washer and dryer because they couldn’t hang their laundry out to dry! I was in the navy stationed in Morocco in the 60s and in the summer there were these sand storms on the Sahara Desert that would blow across the Atlas Mountains and the air would take on the same orange hew and it was very hot, so hot that many of the electronics on the base had to be shutdown for a while each day.
@nostalgia tours if you ever go back to sterling and you like Mexican food dude I’m telling you bro go to “la laguna” it’s a store but in the back it’s a taco spot they sell the best carne Asada tacos n quesadillas Also if you want Chinese food don’t hesitate to stop at “DYNASTY” there chicken Lo Mein 🤤 dude it’s life changing I left sterling and went back to California and I think about those to spot every weeknd when I’m hungry and wanna go out to eat. Try it out trust me won’t regret it
Sterling my home town. You missed a lot of places you could have talked about and what the town still has such as the great food, lounges, cafes. You missed the whole east end of town. Vid was ok
@@Bladeoceanic Already went to Freeport actually on the August trip and that footage turned out well. I went to Rockford on the same August trip but I didn't capture near enough of the city as I could've. I spent an entire day in Rockford this past weekend as compared to maybe 3 hours at most before, so I'm happy with how the 2nd Rockford trip turned out.
Illinois, the land of corrupt politicians, high taxes, high crime rates, and vanishing employment opportunities. It's really too bad because it is such a beautiful state.
This town reminds me of what northwest suburban Chicago looked like when I grew up there in the 80s. Totally overgrown and unappealing now. I’d love to retire to a town like this.
I really like these tours but those filmed in the past COVID year the streets and sidewalks are mostly deserted, like everywhere. While some of these towns are not very vibrant at any time it would be interesting to see some street life once the world gets back in order after the pandemic.
seems like a great town. I think as cities become too dangerous, more people will be moving to towns like this, especially since many can work from home now
That's how I found this video. I'm living in Northern Wisconsin, but my kids are grown, my husband died, and I grew up in Illinois and my elderly Mom is still there, three sisters, nieces, nephews- but in the NW suburbs of Chicago where i couldn't dream to afford to live. But I like the idea of coming back to IL- my sister is out by Dekalb, and it's not too far from there. I don't need much, the schools aren't an issue for me, and I'm self-employed. I just need to buy a house for about 100k and have a little plot to put my garden in. That's it! So, I started looking for videos of these quieter affordable towns and they look good to me! I don't know about other people, but I just like simple. I don't need nightlife. It's nice if there's some culture like a playhouse, a library, a coffee shop and my favorite- thrifting and antiquing! I found lots of affordable towns now looking at videos like this! Very helpful!
@@JohnQPublic345 yes! I'd have enough after selling my house here to buy one outright and afford a replacement vehicle and pay off any debt I had. I'd be better off. I'm hoping I can swing it. Moving is a lot of work!
Speaking of Savanna and Mount Carroll, could you please video them? Thanks. Don’t forget Thomson which has a federal prison. And the “greater metropolitan Argo Fay area “ But watch out for the trolley cars and rush hour traffic is murder! 😏😂
am from rock falls and you just skipped the whole actual far south side where the poorest people live. you focused on the nicer parts. weird . edit: aslo ignored the west end of sterling too.
just to set things straight .ronald raegan was born in tampico ill. my friend grew up in his old house. i grew up in sterling when north westren steel and wire was the biggest countinuse steel rolling manufact in the states. p w dillon built it. when he passed on his son got it. drove it into the ground. how getting scrap steel not paying for it. his son is a total fool.
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K9
11:56 Angelo’s bakes their pizza in 100+ year-old bakery ovens that were old when they bought them. We used to drive from 7th Ave and 13th Street in Sterling all the way to this location in the late 1960’s (before they had other locations) just to get pizzas and their Italian bread.
Great Video....That area is a shell of what I remember as a kid. When the Steel Mill was thriving that little metropolis was bustling. From the downtowns to the mall. It was alive. Sad to see what has become of Sterling/Rock Falls. I Moved to Southern California in the late 90's but will always think of Rock Falls as home.
Good video. Brings back memories. Not sure if you know this, but Sterling is home to Wahl Clipper Corp. I'm sure the place has expanded a few times, but its always been one of those major employers.
17:07 used to be able to drive through that arch in the high school on 4th Ave to LeFevre
There are a couple of the old steam locomotives you mentioned still nearby. One in the backyard of a mansion-turned museum and another old rusty one parked on the siding behind a grain elevator in nearby Galt. Also some abandoned stately old homes near 3rd/2nd street in Sterling.
Yep he totally missed the Dillon home.
Where is the one in Galt exactly? I was lookin for it on Google maps and I couldn't find it. There's a few grain elevators around there which one has it?
Great drive through NT, informative and interesting as always. Thank you so much for your work and enjoyable videos. Much love and stay safe.
Great video man, thanks for telling everything about our town.
Great video and narration. Trip down memory lane
I really enjoyed this video, thank you for the upload. It's been many years now since I've been to Sterling/Rock Falls good to see the place again even if it is by video. You put these videos together so well it's the next best thing to being there. I see a lot of things are still there. I plan on being out there this summer. I've always like it there and I always though for the size of the town Temple Sholom was a big plus for the community. I lived many years in Freeport and I use to think now and then of moving to Sterling/Rock Falls. I may move back to Illinois if I can get over the thought of the taxes. These videos are a big help in looking into these towns. Thank you for what you do.
Hey i used to live in Freeport too but had to move since it got so bad as an adult but i was born in Sterling & spent some of my childhood in Rockfalls. Because of this video, i went traveled back to Sterling/Rockfalls today & found it to be much nicer than Freeport.
I lived and went to high school in Tampico. I spent a lot of time in Sterling and Rockfalls 1973 to 1980. Thanks for trip down memory lane.
where are you now?
What about Sterling Newman High School? Remember when the mall was hopping .1980's
Best American food in sterling “ Candlelight Inn” ChickensGeorge plate chicken is amazing live in California no one has this style chicken can’t wait to go back travel and try it one day after COVID 👍🏻
i found feces particles in my onion rings... and someone ordered spaghetti from their... at a chicken place...
@@TurboPancake uh? It was probably dirt
@@Browhaa69 it was feces...
Back in the day, best chicken was at Clucky’s out on Rt 2 and Freeport Rd.
The biggest hurts in Whiteside County were part of the reason I left Illinois.
Northwestern Steel went under in 2001 after being limped along by the State of Illinois for 6 years beforehand in tax breaks. The replacement for it only uses about 1/2 the original footprint of the site.
When you drove into Sterling, you split between the two buildings of the former National Tool site. I don't know if any of it is still used today, but it's now owned by Stanley Black and Decker, and most of it is made overseas. Their more modern factory was outside of Rock Falls on 30 going East. It's gone.
General Electric used to have a large switch and gear plant in Morrison, also in Whiteside Co but west of you. It downsized through the 90s and finally closed for good in 2010.
At 25:30 on the right side are the 'Patterson Row' apartments (original name), built in 1877. Enlarged with a kitchen, indoor bathroom, and extra bedroom ca 1890. Still occupied up through the 1990's, I believe. Full basement, coal room, 2 stories, then full attic with spiral stairway leading to it. Very interesting vintage buildings, now decrepit, sadly.
My hometown! I was born in Sterling and went to the Elementary schools in Rockfalls and loved going swimming at Lawrence park pool and the Rec center in Sterling back in 1980, We left when I was 12 yrs old and moved to Western Kentucky, but I do go back every other summer if we can, but thank you for this!!! Awesome job!
I enjoy watching these videos, it gives the viewer a great tour of what the particular city looks like, and whether it might be a nice place to live.😀
It's really boring here for me but some people would love it
i grew up in rockfalls
Great video of a once great place in which to grow-up. Nice to see you drove past my old homestead on Locust St. Thanks for the video.
Nice to see you also drove past the home my father grew up in in the 1920s and the building that housed his dental practice from 1950s-1980's and even later in the video passed my brother's current dental practice. With the outsourcing of manufacturing to Asia that occurred in the 1980s, this once "hardware capital of the world" has become a shadow of what it was in the 1960s-early 1980s, like so many small towns across America and especially in the "industrial midwest."
One (sad) thing this video failed to capture is the absolute infestation of video slots/video poker that's taken over this beautiful small town. I took a road trip out there to get a sandwich and meet up with my sister and asked when it happened, apparently within the last few years and then just spread like wildfire.
For anyone willing to travel for a great sandwich, go to Arthurs Garden Deli and get a "Work of Art," you won't regret it. The Sterling location is the best IMO.
Its absolutely disgusting the amt of slot places here. Unreal for this area actually. And just keep poppin more up. Revenue...........
AWESOME video! I LOVE this part of Illinois
One thing that could be mentioned is that Sterling is the home of Wahl, the company that makes electric barber clippers.
I think I did mention that towards the end if I remember correctly
@@ChrisHarden Thank you. I'll have to look at the video again. I may have missed it.
@@ChrisHarden I was either on too many drugs or not enough when I watched this the first time because I don’t remember a lot of the stuff you mentioned in this video. I saw that you did mention the Wahl Company. A few years ago the actor that played Al Boreland on Home Improvement with Tim Allen did a series of tv ads for the Wahl Company. I’ll have to stop watching this stuff when I’m tired or something because I feel like I never watched this video before. 😵💫
If you continue on Illinois route 40 you will wind up in Mount Carroll Illinois, my childhood home . Route 40 ends south of Mount Carroll.
At the end of the video you wind up in front of the former Bergners Department Store. Bergners also had a store at Cherryvale In Rockford. The whole company went bankrupt a few years ago and all their stores closed.
Live there back in the 90s when my children were young this brings back so many memories
Would love for you to do a video on Princeton, IL... love your videos!
Haven't been there yet, but I'll get there one day! Can't make promises on when that will be however :/
I worked at Northwestern steel and wire.
I enjoyed this video, I was born and raised in sterling before moving too Tennessee in 94.
As a kid I remember visiting my aunt and uncle who lived in Sterling. On of my memories was the ghastly orange color in the air because of the steel mill. The residents of Sterling very early adapted to the automatic clothes washer and dryer because they couldn’t hang their laundry out to dry! I was in the navy stationed in Morocco in the 60s and in the summer there were these sand storms on the Sahara Desert that would blow across the Atlas Mountains and the air would take on the same orange hew and it was very hot, so hot that many of the electronics on the base had to be shutdown for a while each day.
Your comment is hilarious. None of it is really true as I grew up there but a childs imagination is a wild place.
Cool fact about the steam trains in the steel factory!
You should have went north to the Wahl corporation, across the street is the Candlelight inn, you missed out on some Chicken George.
I lived in Sterling in the early ‘90s. You drove past the house I lived in!
My birthplace at 18:35 pretty cool to think i was born in the same county as Reagan.
@nostalgia tours if you ever go back to sterling and you like Mexican food dude I’m telling you bro go to “la laguna” it’s a store but in the back it’s a taco spot they sell the best carne Asada tacos n quesadillas
Also if you want Chinese food don’t hesitate to stop at “DYNASTY” there chicken Lo Mein 🤤 dude it’s life changing I left sterling and went back to California and I think about those to spot every weeknd when I’m hungry and wanna go out to eat. Try it out trust me won’t regret it
Another comment Timkins’ Drives Plant is in Fulton, not Sterling
How many people have moved out of Chicago
Sterling my home town. You missed a lot of places you could have talked about and what the town still has such as the great food, lounges, cafes. You missed the whole east end of town. Vid was ok
I went to high school here and graduated back in 2017 go Golden Warriors!
My brother and sister in law lived in Rock Falls right after graduation from Iowa State.
Good Job
You gotta do a Rockford video
Hmm maybe I’m in Rockford filming right now 😉
@@ChrisHarden Might as well do Freeport too since you're up there lol
@@Bladeoceanic Already went to Freeport actually on the August trip and that footage turned out well. I went to Rockford on the same August trip but I didn't capture near enough of the city as I could've. I spent an entire day in Rockford this past weekend as compared to maybe 3 hours at most before, so I'm happy with how the 2nd Rockford trip turned out.
bring a gun
Illinois, the land of corrupt politicians, high taxes, high crime rates, and vanishing employment opportunities. It's really too bad because it is such a beautiful state.
This town reminds me of what northwest suburban Chicago looked like when I grew up there in the 80s. Totally overgrown and unappealing now. I’d love to retire to a town like this.
Shit suck here
sterling is my birthplace and moved to western Kentucky when I was 12, but I still go up to visit family,
Fishing is GREAT in rockfalls/sterling.. como.
I really like these tours but those filmed in the past COVID year the streets and sidewalks are mostly deserted, like everywhere. While some of these towns are not very vibrant at any time it would be interesting to see some street life once the world gets back in order after the pandemic.
Yes it would.
I live in Rock Falls :)
seems like a great town. I think as cities become too dangerous, more people will be moving to towns like this, especially since many can work from home now
Maybe. I feel like the suburbs of the bigger cities will continue to be the nicest places to live.
nup. drug and gang problems. plus we've had multiple shootings here. and the mass murder nick sheely started his killing spree in rock falls
That's how I found this video. I'm living in Northern Wisconsin, but my kids are grown, my husband died, and I grew up in Illinois and my elderly Mom is still there, three sisters, nieces, nephews- but in the NW suburbs of Chicago where i couldn't dream to afford to live. But I like the idea of coming back to IL- my sister is out by Dekalb, and it's not too far from there. I don't need much, the schools aren't an issue for me, and I'm self-employed. I just need to buy a house for about 100k and have a little plot to put my garden in. That's it! So, I started looking for videos of these quieter affordable towns and they look good to me! I don't know about other people, but I just like simple. I don't need nightlife. It's nice if there's some culture like a playhouse, a library, a coffee shop and my favorite- thrifting and antiquing! I found lots of affordable towns now looking at videos like this! Very helpful!
@@uwsupergirl good prices for houses: sterling, rock falls, Dixon
@@JohnQPublic345 yes! I'd have enough after selling my house here to buy one outright and afford a replacement vehicle and pay off any debt I had. I'd be better off. I'm hoping I can swing it. Moving is a lot of work!
EVERYONES leaving illinois.. Taxes are WAYY TO HIGH... AND RISING...
Taxes aren't the only reason for the exodus from Illinois.
2.03% last time I checked...pretty high
Would love to see more indiana videos
The music is way overpowering in the beginning of this video.
Metform isn't in Whiteside county.. it's in carroll county!! 3 plants in Savanna and 1 in Mt carroll
Speaking of Savanna and Mount Carroll, could you please video them? Thanks. Don’t forget Thomson which has a federal prison. And the “greater metropolitan Argo Fay area “ But watch out for the trolley cars and rush hour traffic is murder! 😏😂
I visited last winter 👍👍👍
I live in Fulton, ILL and it’s also the burial town of Ronald Reagan’s Grandparents
I was born in Streling and i lived there until I was about 9 in 1988 lol i still have family that live there
I lived on Freeport Road.
Great mixture between hard working people and drug addicts in sterling and rockfalls!
Seems like most midwestern towns these days.
And thieves and pedophiles and much more !
His birthplace is Tampico not sterling !!!
That's why the video starts in Tampico.
Are you from Fulton by chance?
Number 2 up in here
Do MT Carmel Illinois
am from rock falls and you just skipped the whole actual far south side where the poorest people live. you focused on the nicer parts. weird . edit: aslo ignored the west end of sterling too.
Hmm. How weird.
He went through woodburn Avenue, that's the heart of the west end...
rock falls is my hometown
Cool
just to set things straight .ronald raegan was born in tampico ill. my friend grew up in his old house. i grew up in sterling when north westren steel and wire was the biggest countinuse steel rolling manufact in the states. p w dillon built it. when he passed on his son got it. drove it into the ground. how getting scrap steel not paying for it. his son is a total fool.
Both places are economic pitfalls. Par for the illinois course.
My birth place. Sterling that is.
Too much irritating music
hi
also i am 1st
Yes you are.
Y DIDNT U DRIVE BY MY JOUISE DDDDD:
Hi.
He didn’t do mine either :d
When you come to Chicago you should visit the construction area of the future Barack Obama presidential library in the south side
If you ever travel to Kenya you should show us his birthplace too
Good place crack cut down meth
Waste gas shut take both town bull doze ot