In the year 1900, the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad was built, and it was then that Avalon started to develop. The first train ran on June 6, 1901, and the first depot agent was a Mr. Greenfield, who was here for six months.  

What has your family called the unincorporated community located south of Clinton at the stateline?

Originally, the area that became Clinton Township was called Jefferson Prairie. Generally, it ran from Turtle Creek to the north, Allens Grove to the east, into what is now Turtle township to the west, and into the northern part of Illinois. 

On April 8, 1837, the settlers visited Clinton Township and decided upon locating there. On the 9th, with the aid for Tebo and his little canoe, they recrossed Turtle Creek with their effects and commenced a settlement in the name of the Jefferson Prairie Company and chose the name in honor of their old home. This first settlement was in the area now known as Clinton Corners, the intersection of Highway X and Highway J. At the first town meeting, the name Clinton was suggested in remembrance of DeWitt Clinton, New York's Governor. 

In the early history of this area, it is not surprising that at one time Rock Dell, as it was first known, included a lime kiln and a feed mill along Turtle Creek. At the crossroads of Carver's Rock Rd. and Creek Rd. was a blacksmith shop, a grocery store with things delivered from Clinton, a dance hall where dances were held every Thursday night, a ballpark and a cemetery. A short distance north was a church and a harness shop. Many school picnics, church picnics and play days were held there.  

The Town of Turtle is bordered by Beloit to the west, the town of LaPrairie to the North, and the town of Clinton to the east and the Illinois state line to the South. The township was named for the Turtle Indians, a Winnebago tribe of Native Americans, whose totem was the Turtle. 

In 1832 Abraham LINCOLN camped along the Turtle Creek in what later became the town of Turtle while scouting for Chief Black Hawk under Captain Jacob EARLY. While the earliest titles to land in the town of Turtle are dated February 18, 1839, the official date that the Town of Turtle was organized is February 2, 1846. The town was made up of what had been part of Beloit, Clinton and some of LaPrairie.