If you’re from Rochelle, you know what it is to be a Hub. But what is a Hub, and how did Rochelle become the Hub City? Rochelle did not start out as the Hub City. The area was officially known as Hickory Grove, Lane, and finally Rochelle. Unofficially Rochelle was the self-proclaimed, City of Progress, City of Homes, City of Light, and even Hang Town. Nothing stuck. The community would re-brand every few years and still does today. Only one name or brand has withstood the test of time. Let’s look at the evolution of the “Hub City” and the logo. 

The first railroad arrived in Rochelle in 1853. The Dixon Airline Railroad literally put the community on the map. The Village of Lane was founded in 1871. Lane was renamed Rochelle in 1865. With the arrival of the Chicago and Iowa Railroad in 1870, Rochelle was one of the few communities to be served by two railroads. Research shows that the city began referring to itself as a rail hub, a common term for many communities with railroad service. 

The progress of transportation continued and in 1913 the route for the Lincoln Highway, the first hard-surfaced road reaching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, was plotted. Rochelle was on the route and began replacing dirt and gravel streets with Purington Paver brick. Today the road is known as Illinois Route 38, Lincoln Highway, and Lincoln Avenue in our community. The construction of the cross-country Lincoln Highway continued for years and was officially opened in 1923. Completion of the project came in 1935 when the road was finally hard surfaced from the east coast to the west coast. Two railroads and one cross-country paved road, yet there is no reference to a “Hub City” 

It was when the plan to construct the “Meridian Highway” was put forward that perception started to change. The Meridian was to be the first hard surfaced road reaching from the Gulf of Mexico, in the south, to the border of Canada to the north. When the route was established, it became obvious that the first north/south road would pass through Rochelle. It was Sept. 23, 1926 when Mr. Stafford, editor of the Rochelle newspaper, penned the following. “Rochelle can then be in truth the Hub City with two routes of importance leading to and from her streets, a large, new and heretofore out of the question trade territory can be enjoyed.” This is the first time, 1926, the term “Hub City” can be found. The celebration of the opening of the Meridian Highway through Rochelle featured Miss Garland Lind as Ms. Meridian Highway, and Ms. Armelia Graf as Ms. Lincoln Highway. The Meridian Highway has seen many names through history. Today we know it as Illinois Route 251, or Seventh Street in town. The crossing of the Lincoln Highway and Meridian Highway only occurs in Rochelle, making it the Hub City. 

The Rochelle athletic teams had been referred to as “The Purple and White” since the high school developed sports teams. They were not referred to as “The Hubs” until much later. Once the area began referring to Rochelle as the “Hub City,” the high schools were not far behind. The first reference to the sports teams as Hubs was in the 1929 school Tatler. “Rochelle has completed another successful season. For the first time in Hub Basketball history, there was a light-weight, and a heavy weight team, under direction of different coaches.” Hubs became the preferred title when speaking of Rochelle High School teams. 

The growth of the terms “Hub City” and “Rochelle Hubs” grew quickly and by 1930 the first mention of businesses such as “The Hub Style Shop and The Hub Theater” appeared in newspaper advertisements. There have been more than 50 businesses with Hub in their title since it first appeared in 1930. 

The final step of the process came in 1956. The school yearbook, “The Tatler”, was under the direction of Rosalia Stotmeister. Kay Connolly, Lee Cooprider, Carol Pinter, and Lois Shaw were on the editorial board with Janice Pest as the art editor. The cover of the Tatler featured an old wagon wheel hub with broken spokes. The logo would appear on the cover of school and city materials from that point on. 

So, without hiring a branding advisor and forming a committee, Rochelle has developed a brand that has not only lasted, but grown from 1926 to today, almost 100 years. The Hub City and the Rochelle Hubs are part of the community and as the saying goes, “Once a Hub, always a Hub.”

Tom McDermott is a Flagg Township Museum historian and Rochelle city councilman.