It seems appropriate to consider Locks 1 and 2 together because of their uniqueness.    Originally, both locks were meant to be adjacent to each other.  However, this was changed in order to utilize the hydraulic potential of the Lockport area.   The modified plan had the Locks located a mile apart.  Each lock had a 10 foot lift.  Each was constructed of locally quarried limestone with hydraulic cement used as mortar.  In 1838, the contracts for construction were were let to George Barnet.    Both locks were 110 feet long and 18 feet wide.  Both had wooden flooring over bedrock.  The locks has timber gates.

One unique findings is the different  appearance of the upper and lower wing walls.  They were longer and differently shaped.   They were intended to narrow the canal width at the entrance to the lock chamber.   Both have a pointed upper berm side wing wall. Dam next to this area has an opening to take excess water around the lock chamber and into the canal through an opening in the lower berm wing wall.  Originally, it was intended that these bypasses were to be used to generate hydraulic power.  Eventually this happened at Lock 1 where a tannery was operated  beginning in the 1870’s.  This was no longer operational in the lateral 1890’s.    Ultimately only the foundations of this building remained.   Lock 2 was never used to produce hydraulic power.

In the 1980’s, a project was undertaken to reinforce the floor and walls of  Lock 1.   Although water courses through the Lock, there are no timber gates currently.  Information about any rehabilitation of Lock 2 is lacking.  It has no gates.  Water flows through the lock.

 

Any long time resident of the Chicago area  is familiar with the name Hubbard.  There is Hubbard Street.  There is Hubbard High School.  On the Kennedy expressway, there is Hubbard’s Cave.  There is the Hubbard Street Dance Group.   However although familiar with the name, most know  nothing about this individual and how he was a significant person in Illinois and the Chicago area in the 1800’s.

Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard was born in Windsor, Vermont on August 22, 1802.  His parents were Elizur  Hubbard and Abigail Sage Hubbard.  His father was an attorney by profession. He became involved in speculative ventures. He lost a significant amount of money and property in these pursuits. Because of this reversal of fortunes, young Gurdon was sent to live with his Aunt Salonstall.  After that, he lived with her son in law Reverend Daniel Huntington in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. In April of 1815, he returned to his family.  The mother , father and six children relocated in Montreal, Canada.  The father could not work as an attorney because of Canadian laws.

The father bought a house in Montreal and took in boarders.  He also was able to do consulting legal  work.  Young Gurdon was able to make some money buying produce from Vermont farmers and reselling it in Canada.

In 1816, Gurdon secured a position in a hardware store for board only.  His only friend was John Dyde.  His father ran a boarding house.  This is significant because one of the regular boarders was William Matthews–an agent for the American Fur Company.   Mr. Matthews was in the process of recruiting 12 clerks for the company.   John Dyde was able to obtain one of these positions.  Young Gurdon decided that he wanted to join his friend.  After much discussions with his parents and Mr. Matthews he was able to secure a position for 5 years at $120 dollars a year. He was 16.  On May 13, 1818 he left on his first voyage.  The group first traveled along the Saint Lawrence River.  This part of the trip was note worthy in that young Gurdon met Hiram Norton (who would become a successful business man in Lockport, Illinois along the Illinois Michigan Canal).  The voyageurs ultimately ended in Lake Huron.  From here in July they came to Mackinaw which was the headquarters of the American Fur Company.   In the summer,  the traders from the scattered posts of the  Company gathered  and brought the fur they had obtained during the hunting season.  They also received supplies.  It was here that young Gurdon met John Kinzie-the son of a founding family of the Chicago area.

As the time came to leave Mackinaw, young Gurdon was able to obtain an assignment on the Illinois brigade.  This unit was under the supervision of Mr. DesChamps.  The brigade left from Mackinaw on September 10, 1818.  It consisted of twelve boats. The group arrived in Chicago on October 1. 1818.

Young Gurdon became familiar with the Chicago area.  He visited Fort Dearborn.  He also connected with the Kinzie family and became friends with them.   After spending a short time in the area, the brigade again began its journey. They traveled down the south branch of the Chicago River.  They then entered the Chicago portage.  They traveled through the area of the Mud Lake.  It was a difficult journey.  The group experienced deep mud, leeches, and mosquitoes.   Eventually they reached the Des Plaines River.  Perhaps during this journey young Gurdon fantasized about the need of a canal in this area as had Marquette many years before.   Once in the Des Plaines River, the brigade passed the Isle la Cache area (now a part of the local forest preserve district with a museum).  They passed the mouth of the Fox River and Starved Rock.    They reached the trading post at the junction of the Illinois and Bureau Rivers near the town of Hennepin.    This was the first assignment for your Gurdon.  He worked with a disagreeable gentleman named Mr. Beebeau.   Gurdon and Des Champs went a short trip to Saint Louis before Hubbard began his assignment.  This occurred in December of 1818.  Hubbard clerked at this post during the winter.  In March, 1819 Des Champs and the brigade of 13 boats loaded with furs arrived at the Hennepin station.   After a few days the group left for Mackinaw.  They passed by Starved Rock, Isle la Cache, Mud Lake and the Chicago River.  The group spent a few days in this region.  Then it was off to Mackinaw which was reached in the middle of May.  The next season, Mr. Hubbard was given a new assignment at a post on the Muskegon River with Jacques Dufrain.    Hubbard was made commander of the expedition.  They left in October of 1819.  The next season, his assignment was on the Kalamazoo River in Michigan.  His staff consisted of three Canadians who were familiar with the area.  He also had an Indian named Coso in his group.  His next season he returned to the Illinois River area.   The assignment was at the mouth of the Crooked Creek down stream from Peoria.  His next assignment was the Bureau post.  This was the site of his first posting.   The next year his assignment was on the Iroquois River  near the site of the village of Watseca.
Having completed his initial term of service,  in 1824, he was offered and accepted the position as Superintendent of all of the Illinois River trading posts of the American Fur  Company.

In 1825, he spent the winter at the Iroquis River Post.   After working for the American Fur Company for 7 years, Hubbard was made a special partner.   By 1827, he bought out the Illinois interest of the American Fur Company.  He built his store in Danville and made this his permanent headquarters.

In 1829, he brought a large number of hog carcasses to the Chicago area.   This was the start of the meat packing industry in Chicago.  In 1830, he drove a large number of hogs into Chicago and slaughtered them and provided them to the local residents. This began a long history of supplying meat to the area.

Sometime during is stay in the Danville area, Gurdon  became the adopted son of Chief Waba of the Kickapoo.  For two years, he was married to Watseka (the niece of the chief).  They had two children none of whom survived.

Hubbard maintained his store in Danville even as the fur trading business was declining as the Indian population was being relocated west of the Mississippi.

The early years of the life Gurdon Hubbard were detailed in his autobiography PA-PA-MA-TA- Be, “The Swift Walker”

In 1831, Hubbard married Eleanora Berry of Urbana, Ohio.  Their marriage produced one child Gurdon S. Hubbard, Jr.    His wife died in childbirth at the age of 31 in 1838.    While in residence in Danville, Hubbard, Sr. served in the Illinois legislature from 1832-1833.  He introduced a bill in the assembly calling for construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal.

He left  Danville for permanent residence in Chicago in 1834.  He purchased a cabin from Billy Caldwell.  He expanded his meat packing businesses building warehouses at LaSalle and South Water Street and Kinzie and the Chicago River.   In the latter warehouse,  he had a branch of the Illinois State Bank. He established a line of boats plying the Great Lakes. He was an insurance representative for MXnz for 30 years.   In 1834, he was chosen a town trustee.

Beginning in 1835, Mr. Hubbard became a land speculator buying water lots and land plots along major routes not only in Chicago but also in Milwaukee, Green Bay and Racine.  He served as a commissioner of the I and M canal from 1835–1841.   In 1848, he was one of the founders of the Chicago Board of Trade.

Mr. Hubbard was a very civic minded individual.  He helped arrange the purchased a fire engine for the city with personal funds.  He helped establish the first Chicago water works named the Chicago Hydraulic Company

In 1843, he married his cousin Mary Ann Hubbard.  She outlived her husband living into the early 1900’s.   Hubbard was elected a Chicago alderman in 1860’s.

In the 1860’s and 1870’s Gurdon Hubbard went through a series of financial reversals.   He eventually partially recovered.   He suffered through many health issues.  He eventually died in 1886

 

As originally planned, Lockport was destined to be an important city along the Illinois Michigan Canal for  hydraulic power.  This was due to the fact that there was an approximate 40 foot drop between this city and Joliet.   As originally planned, the proximal portion of the canal was to have a deep cut.  This would result in a reverse in the normal course of the Chicago River and an abundant water supply for the canal.    Because of this, the design for Lock 1 and Lock 2 was unique to harness this potential hydraulic power.

However, financial troubles during construction resulted in a modification of the canal plans.  The deep cut was abandoned for a cheaper shallow cut.    Pumps were needed to supply water from the Chicago River into the canal.   A feeder from the Calumet River was constructed to provide an additional water source.   Even with these measures, water supply was not equal to what it would have been originally.

However, despite this limitation, the hydraulic basin was ultimately proposed in 1848 in Lockport.  It was completed in 1852.  The contractor was George Barnett.  It measured 260 feet by 330 feet.  It was located to the north and the west of the canal.    It was located around 12th street.  Water entered the basin from the I and M canal.  Ultimately, it was discharged into the Des Plaines River 19.35 feet below the basin.  Two of the businesses that utilized the power of the basin included a flour mill and a paper mill.

In the history of the Illinois Michigan Canal, there were actually two structures known as Lock 1.   There was the Lock 1 located in Lockport.  This was one of the 15 original locks designed by William Gooding, the chief engineer.  The second Lock 1 was located at the junction of the canal and the Chicago River.  This was designed and proposed after the canal ran into financial trouble.  It was needed when the deep cut was abandoned for the shallow cut.

We are discussing the Lockport facility in this blog.  It was one of the first locks constructed ( 1838).  The contractor was George Barnet.  The I and M Canal was 120 feet wide before Lock 1 and 100 feet after.   There was a 40 foot drop between Lockport and Joliet.   This feature made this area attractive for the development of hydraulic power.

Both Lock 1 and Lock 2 were originally

designed to provide lift and hydraulic  power.  Lock 1 had many features in common with the other original structures.  It was 110 feet in length.  It was 18 feet wide.  Its height was 20 feet.  It foundation was on bedrock.  It was covered by wooden flooring.  Its walls were made with locally mined limestone.  The gates were timber.  The lock lift was 10 feet the same a lock 2.

Many of the features were unique because of the hydraulic function of the lock.  The upper and lower wing walls were longer and more elaborate.  There was a bypass channel to the east of the lock. Water was channeled from an opening down a power sluice back into the canal.    This hydraulic function was not operational until the flow in the Chicago River was reversed down the Illinois Michigan Canal in 1871.  The John Marx Tannery used the hydraulic power and operated until the end of the century.

In the 1980’s, the deteriorating lock structure was reinforced.  A concrete floor and retaining walls were constructed.    There are no gates in the lock.  Water still flows through the lock.

 

 

This bridge crosses the Illinois River west of the confluence of the Fox and Illinois Rivers.  The original bridge was built in 1871.  It was leased by the Burlington from the Ottawa, Oswego, and the Fox River Valley Company.

The current bridge was constructed for the Burlington in 1898  by the King Bridge Company.  Its total length is 800 feet.  Its height is 21 feet above the water.  Originally the bridge was a steel multispan fixed bridge.  In 1932, the center span was reconstructed and retrofitted with  a Waddell and Harrington Engineers Vertical Lift.  There are timber trestle approach spans to the north and south.  There are limestone piers. There is only a single track in the bridge.

When the Burlington became the Burlington Northern, this bridge was sold off. As of 2009, the last known owners were Illinois Railway Net.

In 1997, trains ran across the bridge twice a week.  South bound at 11 am; North bound at 3 pm.  This was on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Cargo was sand from U.S Silica and Wedron Silica to the Norfolk Southern in Streator.    Also carried was lumbar to a yard in Streator.

For a period of time in the history of the Illinois Michigan Canal, there was a feeder canal present originating near Dayton, Illinois and proceeding south and west to intersect the main canal in Ottawa.

The feeder originated from the Fox River just above a dam.  It was 4.7 miles in length.  It was 40 feet wide at the surface; 26 feet at the bottom.   Its depth was 4 feet. It had its own towpath.  It was navigable by small vessels.  There were mills and grain elevators along its course.  The feeder had a troubled history.  In 1871, when the course of the Chicago River was reversed, it was allowed to dry up.    During the depression, its bed was mined for coal.

Contractors associated with this feeder canal include:  Howe, Hall, Lord, Green, Stratton, Donovan, Nadder and Walker.

This lock was one of the original designed by the William Gooding, the chief engineer of the I and M canal.  It was constructed in 1845-1848.    Its length was 110 feet.  Its width was 18 feet.  Its walls were originally sandstone.  It had timber gates.  Its lift was 8.3 feet.  It a few hundred feet west of Lock 9.

In 1865, its walls were partially rebuilt in timber.  In 1877-78, its wall were reconstructed with ashlar limestone. The lock was in operation until the 1930’s.

The CCC rebuilt the walls with concrete a few years later.  There are no longer wooden gates.  There is currently no water in the lock.

There are many interesting canal structures in the area where the Aux Sable Creek intersects the canal.  There is an aqueduct, a lock keeper house and Lock 8.

Lock 8 is one of the original 15 locks designed by the chief engineer William Gooding.   It was built in 1848.  As constructed, it was 18 feet in width and 110 feet in length. It has a lift of 6.5 feet.  The lock wall was made with ashar limestone.   In years gone by, some of the limestone blocks were replaced with concrete.  The gates were made of timber.    Total original construction cost was $ 4,500.00

In 1887, a sawmill and a barrel factory were located just north of the lock. These facility were powered with water traveling down a spillway.    There is no evidence currently of these two plants.

In 1936-7, the CCC renovated the lock.  The lock walls were repaired.  The timber gates were replaced with like material.

The upstream lock gate was replaced sometime between 1959-1964 with a non movable concrete gate.  Later the downstream gate was completely removed.

Contractors was Mattison and Company.

In planning and building the Illinois Michigan Canal, it was only logical that William Gooding (Chief Engineer of the I and M canal) would consult with someone with more experience than him.   He chose Benjamin Wright.   He had been chief engineer for the Erie Canal and the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.   They developed the plans for the 15 I and M Canal locks in 1837.   These were to be 18 feet in width and 110 feet in length.  Stone for the lock chambers was mined locally.  Natural and hydraulic cement was used to join the stone blocks.  The gates of the locks were made of timber.  Most were constructed during the  period from 1846-1848.  The locks were kept in place until the 1930’s.  The CCC did extensive renovation during the depression years.

Lock 15 was the most western lock.  It had a lift of 11.52 feet.  It was situated between the steamboat basin and the canal boat basin. The lock has been submerged since the 1930’s.  The gates have been removed.

Contractors involved in the construction included : Cooper, Sanger, Grubles.

At the site of the crossing of the I and M canal and Aux Sable Creek, there is an aqueduct.  The original aqueduct was completed in 1847.  Its superstructure was a 2 span timber Howe truss.  This was supported by limestone piers.    It was 136 feet in length and 28 feet wide.   In 1927-8, the wooden aqueduct was replaced by a steel structure.    In 1948, the limestone piers and abutments were reinforced.  After 1986, the piers were rehabbed.  The superstructure was painted.

Currently, the aqueduct is a trough with riveted steel plate girders.  This rests on ashlar limestone piers and abutment.

According to records kept in the Illinois State Archives, the following is a list of contractors working on the aqueduct:  Matteson, Campbell, Hall, Lord, Wall, Sordslo, Kinsley, Mallison.