TURTLE CREEK

Interstate 90 Rest Area-Southbound
South Beloit, IL 61080

HISTORY

Turtle Creek joins the Rock River about 2.5 miles northwest of the Turtle Creek Tourist Information Center and was a major Indian use area from the time of the prehistoric Mound Builders to the 19th century Winnebagoes. Other tribes using the area throughout history include the Sac (Sauk), Fox, Ottawa, Menominee, Pottawatomie, and Chippewa. As late as 1865, Indians returned from their relocation land west of the Mississippi River to visit their ancestral home on the Turtle Creek. The origin of the name Turtle Creek possibly came from an Indian effigy mound in the shape of a turtle that was once on the Beloit College Campus overlooking the Rock River. The mound was 75 feet long, 30 feet wide, and less than 2 feet in height.

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