which distributed so many pretzels to residents that the local newspaper later dubbed Freeport the "Pretzel City". The city later capitalized on this nickname in 2003 by starting Freeport's first Pretzel Festival. Before February 1893, a large square of land was purchased from the former Keller-Wittbecker farm in East Freeport. Some of this land had been subdivided and platted as the "Arcade Addition", as Arcade Manufacturing used some of that square of land in 1893 to rebuild its factory after a fire in its original location had destroyed everything. The Arcade Manufacturing Company had been in operation since 1885 when the previous Novelty Iron Works had gone out of business at the corner of Chicago and Jackson streets. That earlier company began as early as 1868. After the 1892 fire, the Arcade Manufacturing Company built an entirely new factory in the Arcade Addition of East Freeport, where they produced coffee mills and other metal products. Freeport is home to the oldest Carnegie Library in Illinois and one of the first Carnegie Libraries designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Patton and Miller. It was renovated into Freeport's City Hall and City offices were moved to Carnegie City Hall in February 2017. The City of Freeport transitioned to the City Manager Form of Government in May 2017. Geography Freeport is located approximately south of the Wisconsin state line, and at the center of a large agricultural area, located about northwest of Chicago, and west of Rockford. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. U.S. Route 20 is a four-lane divided highway that skirts the community's northern edge. At Rockford, it links with Interstates 90 and 39, giving Freeport residents access to the entire Interstate system. I-90 is the major route between Boston and Seattle. I-39 extends from Rockford to Bloomington, where it links with I-74 and I-55. From Freeport, U.S. 20 continues west to Galena, and the metropolitan area of Dubuque, Iowa. The area code for Freeport is 815 with an overlay area code of 779 . Climate and flooding The Pecatonica River has flooded Freeport seven times since May 2017. The necessary flood cleanup has cost the city more than $1.5 million. The frequency of severe weather events appears to be increasing. According to the State Climatologist, "the number of days Freeport has experienced heavy rainfall