The Illinois Heroes of 9-11-01

This weekend, we've honored the heroes of 9-11 — some of whom died that day, and some of whom are still alive.

All, of course, will live on in our memories.

First responders and emergency personnel from across the country traveled to New York City and Washington, DC in the wake of the attacks to help with the recovery efforts.  Many of those men and women came from Illinois.

One of those Illinois heroes was John Callahan, the Coroner here in my home of Grundy County, IL.  John was a member of the Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team who headed out to New York City to aid in the cleanup at the World Trade Center site.

Please read this recent Morris Daily Herald story that details the grim job that faced John when he arrived in New York City, and why his work was so very important.

I&M Canal: Replica Canal Boat Rides in La Salle, IL

One of the many reminders of the 19th century ingenuity that led to modern American is the Illinois & Michigan Canal that runs from Chicago to La Salle, IL.

Completed in 1848, the 61-mile canal was created to form a link between the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico (connecting Lake Michigan with the Illinois River, which connects to the Mighty Mississippi and, eventually, the Gulf).

Workers came from across the globe to help dig and build the canal. Many towns between Chicago and La Salle (such as my hometown of Morris) owe their very existence to the canal. We will feature a number of these towns here on this blog in the future (we already featured Seneca a few weeks ago), and today we feature the canal's end point in La Salle.

A few years ago, with the help of government funding, a replica canal boat was constructed in La Salle, in conjunction with the Lock 16 visitors center, on which visitors can take a short ride up the canal. The 60-minute ride features narration from a docent in period dress (the entire crew is in costume), as well as the ability to meet Larry and Mo, the two mules responsible for pulling the canal boat.

The Canal Corridor Association hopes to extend the boat rides (pending further funding, I believe), but the short ride is worth it, and perfect for small children. You can event host special events on the boat.

It's a great history lesson, and the docent who hosted our ride provided a great look at the rough-and-tumble experiences of those who worked long days and hours (many died) for very little pay to build the canal.

The canal doesn't look like much today, but it was a huge factor in Chicago becoming a major metropolitan center, and for the growth of much of north Central Illinois.

I feature a few photos from our visit above, and you can view more in the slideshow below:

The Old Gebhard Brewery (Morris, IL)

As we've written here before, you never know what history lies right in your backyard.

Take, for instance, the old Gebhard Brewery building (what remains of it) here in my hometown of Morris, IL. We've lived here for almost six years, but never knew much about the "ruins" that existed few blocks from the downtown area and right off the I&M Canal trail.

In addition to the photos here in this post, you can view all my brewery photos here.

Last week, my daughter and I took a little hike to the "ruins" of the old Brewery to take some pics — then we took to the Internet to do some research.

The Gebhard Brewing company was founded by German immigrant Louis Gebhard in 1866, and the brewery was built in the late 1880s. It remained in operation until prohibition, when the company went belly-up. The brewery was then turned into a flour mill.

We found this great Facebook page about the brewery, maintained by Minooka history teacher David Belden, who writes:

The brewery’s product was known throughout the state because the finest quality of malt, grit and foreign domestic hops were used in the process. The surviving buildings include the brick bottling plant (1888) and the larger brew house (1896). With the coming of prohibition in 1919, the brewery closed, and the brew house was converted into a flour mill.

The photo below is from Belden's Facebook page, which shows the main building and brewhouse of the Gebhard Brewery, as it looked in 1896. Compare with the photos I took last week (above).

History in Our Backyard

Sorry to break up the "Route 66" series with this post, but I just wanted to make a few observations as they relate to the theme and purpose of this blog.

Those of us who grew up in Illinois probably learned a little bit about Illinois history in elementary school or junior high — especially as that history relates to Abraham Lincoln (certainly most schools wouldn't dare teach us about the Illinois life of a conservative president like Ronald Reagan ... but I digress...)

Many of us (myself included), however, don't realize much more about the rich history that lies in our backyards. That's exactly the history I want to explore in this blog. Forget the big museums and the tourist trips. I want to look at the roads less traveled. The more obscure sites that really tell the story of Illinois' history.

For example, the town I live in — Morris — was built by those working on the historic Illinois & Michigan Canal. I happened upon a book about our county's history — and learned about a number of fascinating anecdotes and historic sites here in my backyard that I absolutely have to investigate. Those stories will be told here.

Just this past week, I learned about our neighboring town of Seneca, and it's connection to helping us win World War II. As it turns out, during World War II, Seneca — which is now small rural town of about 2,000 residents — housed 27,000 workers who worked at the "Prairie LST Shipyard" constructing Landing Ship, Tanks for our Navy. There's a blog post coming on that history.

And much, much more. If you have any suggestions of other off-the-beaten-path historical sites we should visit, please let us know in the comments.

Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoy our blog.