Winnebago County: Classroom registers, Cherry Valley decisions and Rockford reports
Pair surviving school registers with teacher records, distinguish Cherry Valley village from township records, and investigate Rockford municipal reports.
Sources checked October 29, 2026. Holdings checked against official catalogs and repository descriptions. Staff-confirmed details are identified below; other holdings are based on published sources. No name-level search; dates do not guarantee complete coverage or online images.
STOP 01 / NIU IRAD
Classroom records: pupils and teachers need different searches
A daily register and a teacher permanent record answer different questions. Identifying the district first makes the request more useful.
School Teachers' Daily Registers 1883–1914 · Accession 1/0066/02
School Teachers' Permanent Record 1895–1953 · Accession 1/0210/02
A focused question to ask
Which schools and districts survive in the daily registers, and can the teacher record be searched by name?
Evidence limit: The broad dates do not establish every school or uninterrupted attendance coverage. Confirm access conditions for the specific volume.
STOP 02 / NIU IRAD
Cherry Valley: village improvements and township meetings
Separate the village government from the township. A single-year improvement book may complement longer meeting minutes without being the same jurisdiction.
Cherry Valley: Local Improvements Board Minutes 1919 · Accession 1/0311/03
Cherry Valley Twp: Township Meeting Minutes 1850–1902 · Accession 1/0315/01
A focused question to ask
What projects appear in the 1919 improvement book, and can staff identify indexes and jurisdiction boundaries for the township minutes?
Evidence limit: The two series cover different governments and years. Do not treat them as one continuous set or assume that every resident is named.
STOP 03 / NIU IRAD
Rockford: municipal reports beside an older plat record
City reports may help explain an address, public service or municipal project. The separately cataloged plat record offers a geographic comparison.
Rockford: City Annual Reports 1897–1942 · Accession 1/0111/01
Rockford: Plat Record 1863–1888 · Accession 1/0267/27
A focused question to ask
Are the annual reports indexed by department or subject, and which neighborhoods or subdivisions appear in the plat record?
Evidence limit: Reports may be statistical rather than name-rich. A plat does not by itself establish who occupied a property.
IRAD is an Illinois Secretary of State program administered by the Illinois State Archives. Depository location: Northern Illinois University, DeKalb. Direct IRAD research requests to the regional depository, not the university’s separate archives or special collections.
Call to ask a question or schedule an appointment. The IRAD office is in Founders Memorial Library, Room 265, on the second floor. For a remote request, follow the statewide telephone/mail policy and confirm the current mailing address with staff.
Start with no more than two names, approximate dates, the county and the record type. Include the township or school where known and the accession number above. Ask whether an index exists, which volumes survive and what copying will cost. For an unindexed series, agree on a manageable search before requesting a long period. The statewide policy directs research requests to telephone or mail rather than email; wait for a response before sending another request. See the statewide research policy ↗.
Request template: I am researching [person or place] in [locality] around [years]. Your catalog lists [title], accession [number]. Which volume covers that period, is it indexed, and how can I consult or obtain the relevant pages? Please let me know any gaps, restrictions and copying charges.
Collection dates at a glance
The table lists IRAD series with verified date spans. Community collections above may have different or unspecified coverage and separate access rules. Catalog spans are starting points, not guarantees of every year, locality or individual. Use the Research Planner to compare your years with these cataloged series.
Selected cataloged series for Winnebago County
Record series
Catalog dates
Accession
School Teachers' Daily Registers
1883–1914
1/0066/02
School Teachers' Permanent Record
1895–1953
1/0210/02
Cherry Valley: Local Improvements Board Minutes
1919
1/0311/03
Cherry Valley Twp: Township Meeting Minutes
1850–1902
1/0315/01
Rockford: City Annual Reports
1897–1942
1/0111/01
Rockford: Plat Record
1863–1888
1/0267/27
Keep the record and your interpretation separate.
Save the depository, collection, accession number, volume, page, dates and any copy correspondence. Record uncertain names as uncertain. A shared road, school or signature can suggest an association; it does not establish a family relationship.
Suggest a correction, an overlooked collection or an updated access detail. An official link or source helps us check it before making a change. Please leave out private family documents and sensitive personal information.