Coal Mining was an important industry in the Illinois Valley 1850’s to the 1920’s.   There was a brief resurgence of strip mining in the period from 1920’s–1950’s.  The coal mined during this time period was used in local industries .  It was also shipped by The I M Canal to more distal sites such as Chicago.  The early mines centered around the LaSalle–Peru area.  Smaller mining operations were located in the Morris, Marseilles, and the Seneca regions   These typically were not long running operations.  As these mines became less profitable,they were closed.  From the 1920’s to the 1950’s, there were strip mining operations near Braidwood, Morris, Utica and Ottawa.
     The coal mining operations fostered industrial development in towns along the canal.  Examples of these industries include Matthieson & Hegler Zinc Company in LaSalle; Westclox plant in Peru; Nabisco Plant in Marseilles; Ottawa Silica Plant; National Plate Glass Company at Ottawa; the cement mills near Oglesby.  It is true to say that many of these operations would not have been located in the Illinois Valley without the locally available coal for power generation and the I M Canal and railroads for cheap transportation.