Then & Now: Illinois and Michigan Canal Locks – Channahon

The construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal helped to extend the water highway that the Erie Canal created from New York to the Great Lakes in 1825. When it opened in 1848, the I&M Canal provided the last link that connected the eastern seaboard with the Mississippi River.

Canal boats could now navigate the Great Lakes from Buffalo to Chicago and then take the I&M Canal to LaSalle, follow the Illinois River to the Mississippi, and travel south to the Gulf of Mexico. Construction of the canal began in 1836, under the direction of William Gooding.

The growth of Will County can be directly traced to the building of Illinois and Michigan Canal. Completed in 1848, and nearly one hundred miles long, the I&M Canal was the final link in a national plan to connect different regions of North American via waterways.

With the help of many foreign-born immigrants, the six-foot deep canal was dug through the northern part of Will County and connected the cities of Channahon and Joliet to the east and west sections of the canal.

Most of the locks and wooden gates constructed along the I&M Canal followed a common set of specifications and were based on a ten-foot lift. Variations in the design of the locks did exist along the route such as Lock #1 and #2 in Lockport.

To assure a ten-foot lift lock, the I&M Canal locks required an 18-foot-wall height and a foundation that was over 11 feet thick. The typical lock chamber measured 110 feet long by 18 feet wide and would accommodate canal boats that were constructed to meet the dimensions.

The Will County towns of Joliet, Lockport and Channahon were three towns which prospered in the nineteenth century because of the transportation network which tied the county with Chicago and the East coast markets.

When the canal opened, trade that was once channeled through St. Louis was now directed to Chicago. Over time, the canal stimulated agricultural development in the region and prompted the growth of businesses in Chicago that were directly dependent on agriculture.

In the first decade after the canal opened, the variety of products transported along the canal included wheat, corn, oats, flour, sugar, salt, pork, coal, stone, and lumber.

In the summer of 1996, a series of thunderstorms deposited over 15 inches of rainfall, causing massive flooding to the Channahon area and the destruction of the dam. The unexpected result was that parts of the canal were left dry, exposing of seven canal boat hulls near Morris. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources contracted with Fever River Research to conduct an archaeological study of these historic resources in 1998.