In Seneca, Illinois on Williams Street west of Main Street, is a large red wood structure known as the Armour Warehouse or the Hogan Grain Elevator.  It is on the north side of the Illinois Michigan Canal.  This structure is the oldest and largest of the remaining grain elevators on the canal.  This was originally built as storage facility for grain that was shipped on the canal.  Later it was connected to the rail road for shipping by this modality. 
     John Armour purchased the property on which the facility was to be built in 1860.  Construction took place in 1861–1862.  Architect is not known. 
     The Armour family was prominent in the grain business.  John was a grain dealer in Ottawa.  He was Vice President of the First National Bank Ottawa.  His brother George was a member of the Chicago Board of Trade and was a part owner of a grain elevator in Chicago.
     The building construction is heavy timber post and beam with a limestone foundation.  It is 65 feet in height and 40 x 80 feet in length and width.  It has a storage capacity of 75,000 bushels.  It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
     During its history the grain elevator has had many owners.  The original owner was a John Armour 1860.  James Armour in 1868.  Nelson J. Ellison and Michael Byrne in 1873.  Guy Griswold in 1877. Nelson Rulison 1882.  Kankakee and Seneca Railroad 1883.  M.J. Hogan and H. Nelson 1886.  Martin J. Hogan and Howard Neilson 1890.  M. J Hogan Grain Company 1906.  John Dunn 1949.  Dunn Brothers Co-operations 1949.  State of Illinois Department of Conservation 1985.
     The grain elevator was originally built for storage of grain to be shipped on the Illinois and Michigan Canal to Chicago.  Farmer’s disatisfaction with prices for their crops led to the development of railroads with shippage to alternative destinations.
      One such railroad was the Kankakee and Seneca Railroad.  It was built in 1882; spur was built to the Hogan Grain Elevator in 1883.  The line basically carried freight; but did have limited passenger service.  It closed in 1934.  The line was operated by the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis and Chicago Railway

Company and later the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago, and Saint Louis Railway Company.

    The Rock Island Depot in Seneca, Il was built in 1912.    It has sat unused since 1980.    The tracks adjacent to the station are owned by CSX.   The depot is currently undergoing a renovation under the sponsorship of of the Seneca Regional Port District.

     The station is located just west of Main Street. 

     Seneca is a small village located in LaSalle and Grundy counties.  The 2010 census puts the population at 2,300. The remains of the Illinois Michigan Canal passes through the village as well as the Illinois River.
     A French missionary Gabriel de la Ribourde is thought to be the first white missionary attempting to bring Catholicism to the indigenous population.  In 1680, he was ambushed and killed by a party of Kickapoo Indians.

     The first permanent settler was Jeremiah Crotty   He was a successful business man and entrepreneur.  He was born in Cork, Ireland.  Like many of his country men, he fled Ireland to avoid the awful conditions that existed under English rule.  He first lived in New York; later he spent time in Pennsylvania and Maryland.  He eventually ended in Lockport, Il.  He became a successful contractor on the Illinois Michigan Canal.  He was responsible for several sections between Aux Sable and Ottawa.  He also was a contractor for the Rock Island Railroad between Minonk and Ottawa.  He did work for the Northwestern Railroad.
    He had a house built in the area that would later become Seneca in 1849.  In 1857, he laid out a village and sold lots.  This area was known as Crotty Town.  It was incorporated in 1858.
By 1860, Crotty Town had 15 houses and 2 stores.  In March of 1879, the whole town perished in a fire.  It was successfully rebuilt.  Mr. Crotty was involved in many successful business endeavors in the region.
   This area was known a Crotty Village or Seneca.  However, Seneca became the official name in 1957.

     In 1848, the Illinois Michigan Canal was completed.  Grain elevators were built adjacent to the canal.

Rock Island Railroad was completed in 1852.  Seneca Depot was built in 1854.

     In 1882,  Kankakee and Seneca Railroad was completed.  This was built to provide an alternative route than Chicago for grain shipments.  This line was operated by the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Saint Louis, and Chicago Railroad.  The line closed in 1933.  During the 1940’s, the Prarie Shipyard operated and was responsible for the construction of hundreds of LST’s used World War 2

     At the Seneca Shipyard a total of 157 LST’s were built.  The first ship was completed in 1942; the last in 1945.  They were 327 feet in length.  Because of this, they had to be launched sideways in the Illinois River.  They weighed 5,500 tons. 
     At its peak, the shipyard employed 11,000 workers.  Union workers were paid $1.20/hour.
Laborers received $ . 83/hour.   The massive influx of workers and their families into Seneca required substantial investment in housing and infrastructure. 
     At the end of the war, the shipyard was dismantled.   Housing was abandoned.  Most of the LST’s were scrapped.  Some were modified or given to other countries.  Some saw service in the Korean and Vietnam wars.
     On May 21, 2005, a monument was erected in Crotty Park in Seneca.

This memorial commemorated the shipyard workers that constructed the boats and the members of the navy and coast guard that served on them.

     One of the more interesting stories involving a town along the Illinois Michigan Canal involved Seneca, Il.  After the tragedy of Pearl Harbor and the entrance of the United States into the war, there was a massive build up of the American war machine.  The coastal shipyards were busy building large naval ships such as destroyers, battleships and aircraft carriers.  The small to medium ships were constructed by yards along inland waterways.  Seneca was chosen as a site to build LST’ s.  These were a class on watercraft used to transport troops and supplies from the larger ships to the beaches.   Seneca was located on the Illinois River with access to the Mississippi River.  It was also centrally located to provide a large labor force. 
     The Seneca Prairie Shipyard was located on a 200 acre site on the Illinois River.  It had an underlayment of sandstone which provided a stable support.    Federal, state and local agencies cooperated in the construction of the facility in 1942–1943.  Miles of trenches were built for sewer mains, water mains, and electric power conduits. 

     The contractor chosen to build the LST’ s was Chicago Bridge and Iron Company.  This organization was formed by a merger between Horace Horton ( bridge designer) and George and William Wheelock of Kansas City Bridge and Iron in 1889.  The merged company concentrated initially in bridge design and construction.  They then moved into bulk liquid storage.  They became well known for manufacture of elevated water storage tanks, above
ground storage tanks for petroleum and refined products and steel plate structures.  Although it would seem strange that the company chosen to construct LST’ s had never constructed ships, Chicago Bridge and Iron had an impeccable reputation and skills in welding.

  To be continued

     Today, I made a mini trip in Marseilles and Seneca, Il.  In Marseilles, I was able to take many pictures of the Rock Island Depot.  Films to follow.  In Seneca, I took pictures of the Rock Island Depot.  Films to follow.  I wass able to visualize the memorial plaque for the LST shipyard.  I was also able to take films of the former shipyard site.

     The Rutherford Barn was originally located in a small town named Dresden.  This town has long vanished.  The area is now a part of Channahon, Il.    The barn is a remnant of a by gone era.    It is located on Hansel Road.
     The barn was constructed by Salmon Rutherford, a local businessman and farmer.  It was likely constructed in stages in the late 1830’s and early 1840’s.   It is located on the North side of the Illinois Michigan Canal.  It is three stories high.  It is a heavy timber post and beam construction. It has a limestone foundation.  It measures 65 X 26 feet. 
     The barn was used as a grain storage facility.  However, more significantly, it is believed that this structure is the last surviving mule barn on the Illinois Michigan Canal.
     Mules were used to tow the freight canal boats from 1848 until 1870.  The mule teams were changed approximately every 15 miles.  Fresh mule teams were housed in canal barns.

     One of the more successful entrepreneural families in Morris in 1860’s to early 2000’s was the Gebhard’s.  The patriarch was Louis Gebhard.  He was a German immigrant.  He founded a brewery in 1866.  It was located in a wooden building in Morris on west Washington Street near Nettle Creek.  He ran the facility for 20 years.  He then sold the business to his son William.  Louis was also a force in the real estate business.  He built a commercial building on Liberty Street.  On the ground floor were Peterson’s Grocery, Cronin Hardware, and the Sachse Saloon.  On the second floor were apartments.  The third floor was the Masonic Hall.

          William Gebhard built the brewing company into a successful enterprise.  Their products were well known because of the quality of the malt, grits, and hops used in production.  In the 1880’s, he built the bottling house and the seven story brew house.  In 1904, he built a stock house.

         In 1912,  the son of William–Fred joined the business and remained until it closed in the 1920’s.  Prohibition was the cause of the demise of the brewery
     The brew house was converted to a flour mill.  One business–Morris Milling Company operated there from 1935–1958.   The bottling plant building was used for 50 years by Lindsay Light and Mantel Company.  They produced mantels for lamps and lanterns.  They closed in the 1990’s.

     Rock Island Railroad paralleled the course of the Illinois Michigan Canal.  The construction of the railroad began in Chicago in October, 1851.  The first train between Chicago and Joliet ran on October, 1852.  The line was extended to LaSalle and reached Rock Island in February, 1854. 
  From the beginning, it provided competition with the Illinois Michigan Canal.   It was responsible for the demise of canal passenger service.  It was more rapid and could operate year round. 
For years the train line and the I and M Canal were engaged in heated competition for freight service.
     The existing Rock Island Depot in Morris is actually the second depot.  It was completed in 1900. It was restored by the Morris Community Foundation in 2000.  It currently serves as the Grundy Chamber of Commerce.

    
     The Rock Island Depot in Ottawa was built in 1908.  It is still standing.  It is currently used as a maintenance building by CSX.

     The Rock Island Depot in Marseilles was built in 1917.   It required a 40 year legal battle to have the old wooden 1867 building  replaced with a newer structure.   The depot was in service until 1974.  It was sold to a private business in 1984. 
     The structure was designed and built by T.S. Peak–a Chicago Builder.  It was added to the National Historic Register of Historic Places on November 7, 1995.

     Approximately one fourth mile from the center of Marseilles, on the bank of the Illinois River is the Marseilles Hydro Power Plant.  The facility was built by Northern Illinois Traction Company.  Construction took place between 1906–1911.  The facility was tested in 1913 by C.W. Humphrey (lead engineer) and Daniel Burnham (architect) 

     The Hydro Plant was operated under a 90 year lease with Marseilles Land and Water Company.  The principle involved in operating the facility was diversion of water from the Illinois River into a channel or race and then into a basement chamber were the water drove wheels.

     The plant was originally constructed to supply electric power to the interurban electric line   Any excess power could be sold to future customers.  Prior to the plant construction, power to electric trolleys was direct current.  This severely limited the range that the trains could operate.  However, the hydro plant provided alternating current.  This markedly increased the range that the electric lines would operate.  This allowed the establishment of the Chicago, Ottawa and Peoria Electric Line.

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       The plant was originally designed for 12 turbines and generators.  However, only 7 were originally installed.  These  provided 400 K watts of power.  The generators were built by General Electric and Westinghouse.  Water wheels were made Laffel and Sampson.  Later generators were upgrade to 1 M watt capacity.

One individual whose ideas had a profound affect on the plant was Nikola Tessla. He was scientist and inventor. He is probably best known for his theories and ideas concerning alternating current. His recommendations for the hydro plant included: alternating current generators; 25 cycle generators for the interurban line; 60 cycle generators for remaining power; rotary converter that would convert the excess 60 cycle power to 25 cycle power during the day when the interurban requirements were high; conversely it would convert the excess 25 cycle power to 60 cycles at night when the train requirements were less.
Units 1,2,3, 6 and 7 were all 60 cycle, 2400V, three phase machines. Unit 4 and 5 were 25 cycle alternating current. Later 2 units were installed in Bay 8 to power two 350 ampere,
125 Volt direct current generators to provide excitation power for the entire plant.
In 1933, the Army Corps of Engineers dismantled the existing dam and built a replacement. This new dam could have had a profound effect on the hydro plant. However Marseilles Water and Land Company negotiated a deal

that maintained the water levels at the plant.
In 1934, the interurban electric line was closed permanently. In 1936, the power plant was merged into Illinois Power and Light System. It provided power to the growing electric grid. The Hydro Plant was closed in 1988. The reason given for the closure was that it was too small to be economical.
There have been several unsuccessful attempts to reopen the facility. There has been significant lengthy litigation associated with these attempts.