Tampico, Whiteside County, Illinois

Tampico (pronounced: TAM-pico), is a rural village located in the southeast section of Whiteside County, IL. The small community of approximately 770 people has been the home and birthplace of some of America's most well-known people. It is the birthplace of the only president born in Illinois - Ronald Reagan, 40th president of the U.S.A. He was born in an upstairs apartment, over a bakery on Main Street on February 6, 1911. Tours of his apartment and a gift shop are available. More detailed information can be found on their website: http://www.tampicohistoricalsociety.com/R_Reagan_Birthplace_Museum.html'''. '''

Admiral Joseph M. "Bull" Reeves (1872-1948) was also born in Tampico, IL. Included in his rather illustrious Naval Career, serving in three wars (Spanish American, WWI and WWII), and from June 15, 1934 he served two years as Commander in Chief, U.S. Fleet, hoisting his flag in the USS PENNSYLVANIA, the first airman to command the Fleet. He returned to the Navy Department in July, 1936, for duty as Member of the General Board, and from October, 1936 until his retirement on December 1, 1936, he was Chairman of that board. He also designed the first football helmet. A biography of Adm. Reeves was submitted to the Tampico Area Historical Society by the Naval Biography Division of Naval Records and History, compiled May 20, 1952.

John Shaheen (1915-1985) was born in neighboring Lee County, IL, but spent much of his childhood in Tampico. His parents, Mike &amp; Sadie Shaheen owned a grocery store in town during the 1930's &amp; 1940's. John was a member of the Office of Strategic Services 

His sister, Ruth is married to TV personality, Hugh Downs.

The Tampico Area Historical Society maintains an inter-active website (through their message boards) that contains thousands of pages of history, genealogy, photos and documents. '''www.tampicohistoricalsociety.com  They also maintain over 100 family albums on Picasa and Google+. The Historical Building is open by appointment, The Historical Society also has a Family History Library/Research Center which archives their newspaper, The Tampico Tornado (pub. 1876-1966), plat books, cemetery logs, obituaries, funeral logs, family histories, business histories and other items for genealogical/historical research. They can also be found on Facebook. '''

There is also a website maintained by the Village of Tampico.