Editing Beloit, Wisconsin (section)

==History==
[[File:Postcard of Carnegie Beloit Public Library, Beloit, Wis. - DPLA - f5500aa266e05230fef480f5f28299bf.pdf|thumb|alt=Front: Picture of Carnegie Beloit Public Library. Back: Addressed to Public Library Columbus, GA|Postcard of Carnegie Beloit Public Library, Beloit, Wis.]]

Twelve men in [[Colebrook, New Hampshire]] created the "New England Emigrating Company" in October 1836, and sent Horace White to find a suitable region of Wisconsin in which to settle. The level fields and the water power of Turtle Creek and "unlimited gravel" in the area around what is now Beloit fixed the site of the village and farms. White purchased the land. At the same time as the Colebrook settlers, six families from [[Bedford, New Hampshire]], arrived and settled in the region. They said the Rock River Valley had a "New England look" that made them feel at home. The village was platted in 1838 and was planned with wide streets, building on the [[New England]] model.

Beloit was originally named New Albany (after [[Albany, Vermont]]) in 1837 by its founder, Caleb Blodgett. The name was changed to Beloit in 1838.<ref name="Callary">Callary, Edward. 2009. ''Place Names of Illinois''. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, p. 326.</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Frank Blodgett Dies at Age 82 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/921720/death_of_frank_blodgett_18661949/|newspaper=Janesville Daily Gazette|date=March 21, 1949|page=1|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = August 26, 2014 }} {{Open access}}</ref> The name was [[Neologism|coined]] to be reminiscent of [[Detroit]].<ref name="Callary"/>
 
Beloit lays claim to such inventions as the [[speedometer]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.earlyaviators.com/ewarner.htm|title=Arthur P. Warner|first=Ralph S. Cooper|last=D.V.M.|website=www.earlyaviators.com|access-date=June 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517101749/http://www.earlyaviators.com/ewarner.htm|archive-date=May 17, 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> John Francis Appleby's [[twine binder]],<ref>[http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=2884&keyword=appleby Appleby, John Francis 1840 - 1917<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210190717/http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/dictionary/index.asp?action=view&term_id=2884&keyword=appleby |date=February 10, 2009 }}</ref> and Korn Kurls, which resemble [[Cheetos]], and the original puffed cheese snack.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://thisisbeloit.com/portfolios/remember/|title=REMEMBER - This Is Beloit {{!}}|newspaper=This Is Beloit {{!}}|language=en-US|access-date=February 1, 2017|archive-date=May 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170522141634/http://thisisbeloit.com/|url-status=bot: unknown}}[[Internet Archive]]:     Retrieved May 26, 2018</ref><ref>''[[Atlas Obscura]]'': [https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/a-brief-history-of-the-cheese-curl-junk-foods-happiest-accident Brief History of the Cheese Curl] Retrieved May 26, 2018</ref>

===Railroad heritage===
Beloit was served by the [[Milwaukee Road]], and the [[Chicago & North Western Railroad]] (C&NW). In its 1980 bankruptcy, the Milwaukee Road disposed of the Southwestern Line. The [[Union Pacific]], which took over the C&NW, operates in Beloit today over a remnant of the former Milwaukee Road, providing a rail connection to [[Fairbanks-Morse]] Engine manufacturing facility.{{clarify|date=June 2012}} The [[CPKC]] operates other trackage in Beloit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.glenviewcreek.com/beloit.html|title=Beloit, WI, Operations|website=www.glenviewcreek.com|access-date=June 21, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115203625/http://www.glenviewcreek.com/beloit.html|archive-date=November 15, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> The city also had an electric interurban railroad.{{when|date=December 2013}}