A well-known figure in Joliet in the last half of the 1800’s was Edwin Porter.  He was born on April, 19, 1828 in Granger, Medina County,  Ohio.  He married Almenia Abigail  on December 27, 1856.  He and his wife came to Joliet, Illinois in the same year.  

     In 1858 Porter entered the brewing and the malting business.  He established his brewery near the DesPlaines River.    His products included lager beer, ale and london porter. His lager was marketed locally.  His ale and porter had a more widespread distribution.  The water used in brewing came from deep artesian wells.

     He became very successful.  His brewery was the largest in Joliet.  It was one of the largest in the state of Illinois.   In 1866, he constructed a 3 story building for his company.  Later additions were made to this building.  In 1893, the brewery was incorporated and the name was E. Porter Brewing Company.  This was in operation until the time of Prohibition.  

     In addition to being a business man, Mr. Porter was civic minded.  He served as mayor of Joliet from 1879-1883; 1864-6; and 1871-2.  He died on March 13, 1909.

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Porter Brewing

The Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway was a fairly successful company for many years.There were two main reasons for this:

One.  It filled a niche by providing a by-pass arc outside the Chicago area for freight transport.  It began in Waukegan and proceeded  south and west near Elgin and Aurora.  It then proceeded east to Joliet and Dyer.  From  here it traveled north to Gary and the along the lakeshore to Whiting and South Chicago.

Two. It concentrated on providing freight service to industrial businesses such as the steel industry.

The railroad resulted from mergers and consolidation of multiple companies.  It’s earliest predecessor was (1887) the Joliet and Northern Railroad.  This road offered freight and passenger service between Joliet and Aurora.  In 1888, 2 companies were set up to build a railroad that would form a by pass around Chicago and into Indiana.   The names of  the two companies were Elgin, Joliet & Eastern of Ilinois and the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern of Indiana.  In October, 1888, the E, J & Illinois acquired the Joliet & Northern.  In December, 1888, the two E, J & Eastern lines merged to form the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern R.R.

For years after, the J. Company continued to develop and expand its Chicago belt line.  It did this by laying new track and my merging with smaller lines.  Among these were Gardner, Coal City, and Northern RR., the Waukegan and Southwestern Railroad, and the Chicago, Lake Shore and Eastern Railroad.

The J line was known predominately for its freight service.  However, for a brief period, it offered passenger service.  It had a depot in down town Joliet on Clinton Street.  This service ended in 1907.

For years, the line had an association with the steel industry.  Illinois Steel purchased the line in the late 1800’s.  In the 1890’s, it became a part of Federal Steel and in 1901 U.S. Steel.

The Joliet Division of the line included the East Joliet Yard.  This was a large complex containing a round house, a machine shop, blacksmith shop, locomotive shop and cinder pits.

The J line for years was a major employer in the Joliet area.  At its peak in 1951, it employed 5,900 employees and its freight business generated 55 million dollars in revenue.  Today the line employs approximately 750.

 

 

In 1988, U.S. Steel and the Blackstone Group formed a holding company Transtar, Inc. to serve as shareholders of the E,J & E Railroad and several other affiliated companies.  In March, 2007, Blackstone ended its interest in Transtar.  It then became a subsidiary of U.S. Steel.

On 1/31/2009, CN purchased the J line.  Its plan was to use the railroad as a by pass of the congested Chicago rail system.   Transtar retained the facilities in Gary.  These were reorganized to  form the Gary Railway serving U.S. Steel.

Freight Yards

The early origins of the line began with Alton and Sangamon Railroad.    This was chartered by the state of Illinois in 1847 to provide service between Alton and Springfield, Illinois.  This line was completed in 1852.  Additional amendments to the original state charter provided for service to Peoria, Bloomington ( 1854), and Joliet (1855)    The railroad was then known as the Chicago and the Mississippi.   Passenger service from Joliet to Chicago was over the Rock Island tracks.   Freight at Joliet was transferred to canal boats for the trip to Chicago.

In 1855, the Joliet and Chicago was chartered by the state to provide rail service between Chicago and Joliet.  It was completed in 1856.    The tracks were leased by the Chicago and Mississsipi to allow access into the Chicago market.   In 1857, the lines were reorganized as the St. Louis, Alton, and Chicago Railroad  and in 1862 as Chicago and Alton Railroad.  The C and A chartered the Alton and and St. Louis Railroad to provide service to East Saint Louis.

The Chicago and Alton had several prosperous years.  It then had issues with labor unions and decreased freight revenues.   The line went into receivership in 1922. It was sold to the Baltimore and Ohio in 1931.  Over they years it was owned by multiple lines.

In 1971, Amtrak took over the passenger line between Chicago and Saint Louis.  In 1975, Metra took control of the passenger service between Chicago and Joliet.    The freight lines were absorbed by Union Pacific in 1996.

 

      One piece of historical information.  It was on the Chicago and Alton line that the body of Abraham Lincoln made the finally journey to Springfield.Illinois.

 

 

The Illinois and Michigan Canal was completed in 1848  It provided both freight and passenger service between Chicago and LaSalle,  Illinois.

In February, 1847, the Rock Island and LaSalle Railroad was chartered by the State of Illinois.  Its purpose was to be a feeder to the canal.   Thus service was to be  established between the Mississippi River and Chicago.  In 1851, an amendment to the charter was granted by the state.  This allowed for extension of the railroad to Chicago.

Railroad construction began in 1851.  The Chicago to Joliet link was completed in 1852.  Passenger and freight service was provided on this route.  West construction was completed to Rock Island by 1854.  This put the railroad in direct competition with the I and M canal.    As a result of this, passenger service soon ended on the canal.  The railroad also competed for freight service.  It was operational year round.  It was faster than canal boats.

In 1866, the railroad reorganized as the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Line.   At its peak, service was provided to 14 states.  However the  future or the road was bleak.  .  It filed for bankruptcy in in 1932 and 1975.

Passenger service between Chicago and Peoria (through Joliet) ended in 1979.  The Rock Island shut down completely in  1980.    In 1978, RTA took over passenger service between Joliet and Chicago.  CSX acquired ownership of the track west of the DesPlaines River.  It provides freight service on this line.

 

 

This is a side view of Lock 15 Illinois Michigan Canal.  This the last western lock.  Distal to this lock is the steam boat basin.  This is where the Illinois River steam boats docked. Cargo  was transferred between the canal boats and the river boats.   Seen on this view are the limestone of the Lock walls.  There are no gates present.    In the back ground are the limestone piers of the Bulington Railroad Bridge.

This is a view of the the aqueduct over the Little Vermillion River in  LaSalle.    Railroad tracks are seen on the  left side.  The Alpha Portland Cement Company is also seen on the left.