The Nachusa House was finally constructed in 1853 as a four-story limestone building with simple wooden lintel and sill windows. The structure is perched on a hilltop overlooking the Rock River, directly across the street from the Lee County Courthouse. The hotel gets its unique name from John Dixon. "Na-Chu-Sa" was the name area Native Americans gave to Dixon, meaning "head white hair". During its first years, the early 1850s, the hotel was primarily a stopover on the stagecoach routes from Chicago to Galena, and Peoria. When the railroad came to the city of Dixon in 1855 the Nachusa House grew in popularity with stagecoach travelers as well as those traveling via rail. The Nachusa House layout can be divided into three main components, the main building, the south annex and the west annex.