March 31, 2025
Local News

Then & Now: Wilmington Lock – Wilmington

The Then photograph shows old Lock #4 (near Dam #3) in Wilmington. Lock #4, with its 15- foot lift, was located just to the north at the foot of Alden’s Island and allowed prospective investors along the millrace to generate water power for their needs. (Photo courtesy)

The improvement of the Kankakee River for navigation in some portions dates back many years. For the Illinois and Michigan Canal Commissioners, the Kankakee River region once promised great potential economic value for early investors.

After the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in 1836, it was found that an additional supply of water was required for operating the canal. The original part of the Kankakee River navigation plan was the construction of a 4-foot-deep navigable feeder to the Illinois and Michigan Canal.

The state built a dam across the Kankakee River close to Wilmington (near the Des Plaines Dolomite Prairies Land and Water Reserve), and the “Kankakee Feeder” traveled in a northwesterly direction crossing the Des Plaines River on an aqueduct connecting with the Illinois and Michigan canal about 800 feet north of the Des Plaines River in Channahon.

In 1847, the state chartered the Kankakee and Iroquois and Manufacturing Company (later known as the Kankakee Company), for the purpose of improving the navigation of the Kankakee River and Iroquois River upstream of the State Dam to the Indiana border and developing water power on the river.

By 1861, the company had only constructed a lock and dam on the Kankakee River just upstream from the State Dam. The remains of this lock, known as Lock #2, still is visible from the bridge on I-55 as it crosses the Kankakee River. The lock and dam provided some navigation to the town of Wilmington and Illinois and Michigan Canal in Channahon.

In 1866 a new company was organized, called the Kankakee Company, with new investors and new ideas. Additional locks and dams from Wilmington to the Indiana state line were planned, but lacked the capital to begin construction.

Four years later, the Kankakee Company was reorganized with a new board of directors, new money from Eastern investors, and different engineers. In short order, the company rebuilt the state and feeder dams, repaired the feeder lock, and constructed a series of dams (known as #2, #3, #4) and locks (known as #3 and #4) around Alden’s Island in Wilmington.

These improvements provided an outlet for the Kankakee valley by water to Chicago and St. Louis. The locks and dams help create enough slack water in the river basin to make the Kankakee River navigable for miles above Wilmington.

In time, boats regularly traveled to Chicago and St. Louis every week, carrying grain and other agricultural products, and bringing back lumber, iron, coffee, sugar, salt and other manufactured items.

The improvements made to the Kankakee River not only created 21 miles of the river system navigable for boats, but also created a series of dams and locks that created a fall of about 50 feet. This fall allowed for a large volume of water to be harnessed for power, even in the driest season.

The Kankakee Company was sold to the Kankakee River Improvement Company in 1878, which was liquidated in 1893. As a result, the locks and some dams soon fell into disrepair.