Home > Illinois and Michigan Canal

Construction on the canal began in 1836, although it was stopped for several years due to an Illinois state fiscal crisis. The Canal Commission had a grant of 284,000 acres (1,149 km²) of federal land which it sold at $1.25 per acre (309 $/km²) to finance the construction. Still, money had to be borrowed from eastern U.S. and British investors to finish the canal.

Most of the canal work was done by IrishThe island of Ireland ire in Irish, Airlann in Ulster Scots) is the third-largest island in Europe. It lies on the west side of the Irish Sea, close to the island of Great Britain. It is composed of the Republic of Ireland in the south and Northern Irelan immigrants who previously worked on the Erie CanalThe Erie Canal (also known since 1918 as the Barge Canal is a canal in New York State, United States, that runs from the Hudson River to Lake Erie, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. Although the canal was first proposed in 1699, it was n. The work was considered dangerous and in 1838Events January 6 Samuel Morse first publicly demonstrates the telegraph. January 8 Alfred Vail demonstrates a telegraph using dots and dashes (this is the forerunner of Morse code) January 12 Joseph Smith, Jr. and Sidney Rigdon flee Ohio for Missouri Marc alone nearly 1,000 immigrant workers died during the work. The Irish immigrants who toiled to build the canal were often derided as a sub-class and were treated very poorly by other citizens of the city. The canal was finished in 1848, having cost a total of $6,170,226. Pumps were used to draw water to fill the canal near Chicago, soon supplemented by Sonet Creek through the Calumet Feeder Canal and the DuPage RiverThe DuPage River a tributary of the Des Plaines River actually starts as two individual streams in DuPage County, Illinois. The west branch of the DuPage River starts in Winfield, and flows south through Warrenville and Naperville. The east branch of the supplied water further south. In 1865 the canal was deepened to speed up the current and to improve sewageSewage is domestic, municipal, or industrial liquid waste products. How it is disposed varies by the area, and the local commitment to the environment. In some countries, notably the United States, national law mandates sanitary treatment of sewage, and o disposal.

The canal was 60 feet (20 m) wide and six feet (2 m) deep, with paths constructed along each edge to permit mules to be harnessed to tow barges along the canal. Towns were planned out along the path of the canal spaced at intervals corresponding to the length that the mules could haul the barges. It had fifteen locksA canal lock or navigation lock is a device that lifts or lowers boats, barges or other vessels from one water level to another. Locks used on canals allow the negotiation of hills without recourse to lengthy detours, or the use of tunnels or aqueducts. and one aqueductThis article is about the structure aqueduct, for the racecourse see Aqueduct Racetrack. An aqueduct is an artificial (man-made) channel that is constructed to convey water (properly called a canal) from one location to another. Many aqueducts are raised to cover the 140 foot (45 m) height difference between the Illinois and Chicago Rivers. From 1848 to 1854 the canal was a popular passenger route but this ended with the opening of a railroad in 1854 that ran parallel to the canal. The canal had its peak shipping year in 1882 and remained in use until after World War IWorld War I (also known as the First World War , the Great War the War of the Nations and the "War to End All Wars") was a world conflict occurring from 1914 to 1918. No previous conflict had mobilized so many soldiers, or involved so many in the field of. It was replaced by the larger Sanitary and Ship Canal in 1900 which remains in use. The canal ceased all operation in 1933.

In 1871, the direction of part of the Chicago River was reversed by the Army Corps of Engineers with the result that the river and much of Chicago's sewage flowed into the canal instead of into Lake Michigan. The complete reversal of the river's flow was accomplished when the Sanitary and Ship Canal was opened in 1900.

Today much of the canal is a long, thin park with canoeing and a 61 mile (100 km) hiking and biking trail (constructed on the alignment of the mule tow paths). It also includes museums and historical canal buildings. It was designated the first National Heritage Corridor by U.S. Congress in 1984.

Towns along the path of the canal include Willow Springs, Lemont, Lockport, Joliet, Channahon, and Morris, Illinois.