Free Republic

DIXON, Ill. (AP) Ronald Reagan's death has drawn a steady stream of cars down the rural highways leading to Dixon, Tampico and Eureka, the often forgotten small towns where the only Illinois-born president grew up playing football and dreaming of Hollywood. Five times the usual number of tourists have crossed the porch of Reagan's boyhood home in Dixon daily since his death. Hundreds of others have discovered the Reagan collection at Eureka College, where he graduated in 1932. ``Whenever anyone passes away, it's a time of reflection. I think people want to touch and feel and have a connection,'' said...

Some of the sites on the Ronald Reagan Trail, created in 1999 to trace the roots of the only U.S. president born in Illinois: ^Reagan Birthplace Location Tampico. Address 111 S. Main Street. Significance: Reagan was born in the second-story apartment on Feb. 6, 1911. The 1,700-square-foot apartment has been restored, and work is under way to convert the first floor into a museum. Hours 10-4 Monday-Saturday, 1-4 Sunday (through Nov. 30). Admission Free. ^Reagan Boyhood Home Location Dixon. Address 816 S. Hennepin Avenue. Significance Reagan was 9 when his family moved to Dixon, where he went to school, attended...

TAMPICO -- At 3:08 PM CST on Friday afternoon, the airplane carrying President Ronald Reagan's body back to his final resting place in Simi Valley, California, will tip its wings as it flies over Reagan's birthplace in the heart of Illinois, the little town of Tampico.

Hundreds of people gathered Thursday in this central Illinois town where Ronald Reagan grew up, played ball and spent summers as a lifeguard to remember the life of the nation's only president born in Illinois. "He was the leader of the most powerful nation on earth but he never forgot his small-town roots," said the Rev. Bob Jones of St. Patrick's Catholic Church. At the First Christian Church, where Reagan was baptized at age 11 on June 21, 1922, more than 100 invited guests jammed into the pews, including dignitaries such as U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert and Gov. Rod...

June 8, 2004 (Springfield) — A stretch of Interstate 88, which passes near Ronald Reagan's birthplace and his boyhood home, was renamed Tuesday in honor of the late president. Gov. Rod Blagojevich issued an executive order declaring part of I-88 the "Ronald Reagan Memorial Highway." The east-west interstate runs along the southern edge of Dixon, where Reagan grew up, and 10 miles north of Tampico, where the nation's 40th president was born in 1911 in a four-room apartment over the general store. "Now, when people drive on I-88, they'll remember Ronald Reagan and everything he did for our country," Blagojevich...

ABC just announced :( Ronald Reagan was 93