These are recent photos taken of the North Branch Chicago River Glenview, Il.  5/ 29/2017

The village of Ladd is a small community located in Bureau County in central Illinois.  The area was originally called Osgood after the owner of the mine in the area.  Later it was called Laddville after a businessman from Peru, Il.  It was incorporated in 1890 as Ladd.

In 1888, the board of directors of the Whitebreast Fuel Company (Ottumwa, IA), authorized its agent William McNett to purchase mine rights in a section of Bureau County, Illinois.    The purchase consisted of approximately 10, 500 acres in an area around what was to become Ladd.  The site was chosen because of its proximity to a main road.  There was also a railroad Illinois Valley and Northern.  This was constructed to service an elevator in Ladd owned by George Ladd.  This track was leased by the Chicago,  Burlington and Quincy.    Later the Milwaukee Road built a terminal in the area.

     The original miners came to the area from Iowa in 1888.  They encountered considerable difficulty in drilling due to the composition of the soil.  After one and a half years, they successfully drilled 3 shafts.    Whitbread fuel company operated the mine for 11 years.

     In 1901, the mine was purchased by S.M. Caldwell and a group of investors.  The company was called Illinois Third Vein Company.   The new company made over $100,000. In improvements in the mine.    They erected a coal washing plant.  They installed a new ventilating fan.  

  At its peak, the town of Ladd had 700 miners and 300 railroad employees.  This continued until 1924.  The mine produced 6,198,174 tons of coal during its life.  

   The mine was closed in 1924 in  part due to competition with nonunion mining in southern Illinois.  The miners relocated to areas with active mining operations.  Railroad workers were relocated.

    The abandoned mine was sold to Peter Bergandi in 1925.  The purchase price was $5000.  Not much is known about what this individual did with the mine.

     The only remnant of the mine is the slag pile.  It was composed of shale and slate rock. At one time, it stood at 252 feet in height.   Recently, it’s height was reduced by 80 feet by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.   The mine shafts were refilled.  

  In the past,  plans were proposed for the slag hill.  One of the more novel ones was a revolving night club at the top.  Trees were planted on the hill by school kids.

North Shore Channel near the Skokie Swift Bridge

 

 

 

 

The North Shore Channel is a man made canal.  It was constructed between 1907 to 1910.   It was built as part of a comprehensive plan for sewage disposal developed by the Metropolitan Sanitary District.   It no longer serves this role.  However, during periods of heavy rain, there is discharge into the channel.

It’s origin is at Wilmette Harbor.  At the junction of the harbor and the channel, there is a gate which is designed to prevent water from backing up from the channel into the harbor and ultimately into Lake Michigan.  When the water level rises in the channel, the gate is occasionally opened to lower the water level.

The depth of the channel varies from 7 to 10 feet.  It is 7.7 miles in length.  It flows south and west towards its junction with the North Branch of the Chicago River.  It passes through Wilmette, Evanston, Skokie, Lincolnwood, and Chicago. In Wilmette and Evanston, there are golf courses adjacent to the channel. In Evanston, Skokie, Lincolnwood, and Chicago, there are parks along the canal.

The North Shore Channel ends at River Park.    At this region, the channel merges with the North Branch of the Chicago River.  At this point, the river drops 4 and one half feet over a dam to merge with the channel.

 

River Park is located at 5100 North Francisco in Chicago.    It is approximately 30 acres.  It is the largest of six parks developed by the River Park District in the early 1900’s.  These parks are located along the North Shore Channel and the north branch of the Chicago River.

     There is a diversity of wild life along the channel.  A few examples are below

There are two locks on the Illinois Michigan Canal in Marseilles, Illinois.    They are in close proximity.  Both of these locks had lifts of 8.3 feet.    The more eastern lock is number 9.  Compared to Lock 10, not as much is known about this structure.

Because lock 9 likely followed the design developed by William Gooding and Benjamin Wright for the I and M  Canal, its dimensions were 110 feet in length and 18 feet in width.  The gates of the lock were made of timber.    The exact date of construction is not known.  But since 10 was constructed in the 1840’s, it is presumed that it was built in this time frame.    The material of the original construction of the walls is unknown.  Lock 10 was originally constructed of sandstone.  Probably a similar material was used on Lock 9.  The current state of Lock 9 is concrete walls, no gates and no water in the lock.

In the 1830’s, the village of Lockport was platted by commissioners of the I and M Canal.   An area extending from 8th to 10th Street and Commerce Street and the canal was set aside as the Public Landing Area.   This was a busy area where wagons  with grain sold their product to waiting canal boats.    This area now is composed of a parking lot and a park.