After a Lonnng period of bad health and crummy weather I am back to posting again. Just as the spring encourages the flowers to bloom and the grass to grow I am back on the road to continue my Adventures 'Off the Beaten Path'. I thank the many people who have kept asking me when I was going to start posting regularly again.
We in Illinois are blessed to have numerous free attractions all within a couple hours driving time from home and one of these is the Illinois & Michigan canal. Opening in 1848 to great fanfare and spanning 96 miles, the canal connected small towns and businesses to Chicago and was responsible in part for making Chicago one of The major hubs in the early days of the United States. Before the canal was built farmers had no way of taking their crops to markets outside the immediate area but with the completion of the canal suddenly their goods could be transported up to the Great Lakes and from there spread across the country.
The construction was done in part by Irish immigrants who had previously worked on the Erie canal and was considered dangerous work with numerous workers dying from accidents and disease. No records exist to say just how many died as the Irish were considered second class citizens at the time and little attention was paid to their passing.
Once completed the canal had a total of 17 locks and 4 aqueducts that compensated for the 140 foot difference between the Illinois river and Lake Michigan. During its heyday the barges laden with tons of cargo were pulled by teams of mules along the towpath towards Chicago & towns were laid out at regular intervals that were estimated to be the distance the mules could walk without tiring.
At first the boats carried both passengers and cargo but with the creation of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific railroad in 1853 it was easier and faster for travelers to ride the rails to the big city. Still, the canal stayed active for nearly a hundred years before finally ceasing operations in 1933 and in 1984 was designated the first National Heritage Corridor by the U.S. congress Today it is a 62 mile long park that is popular with fishermen, hikers, bicyclists and tourists and in LaSalle there is a recreation longboat that allows people to experience what it was like to travel the canal 'back in the day' The "Volunteer" is 76 feet long and can carry up to 70 passengers at a time with guides in period clothing talking about the waterway and giving guests an hour to travel back in time.
Good to see you back John! It was a terrible winter! We have spent time on the canal in the LaSalle area but have never rode the boat.
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