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I & M CANAL
PASSAGE
Discover the legacy of people who have traveled this passageway for centuries.
Native Americans once canoed the rivers and walked trails that are roads
today. Pioneers transformed tall grass prairies into farms and towns. In
the 1830s, immigrant workers used picks and shovels to dig a canal that replaced
the marshy rivers for travel and trade. The Illinois and Michigan Canal looks
tiny by modern standards, but it forever changed the nation when it linked
the Illinois River and Lake Michigan in 1848. Instantly, New York and New
Orleans were connected, and Chicago’s future as a major city was secured.
Today, the I & M Canal knits
the region together in a new way – linking
parks and trails with history. In 1933, the canal was replaced by the Illinois
Waterway – still used today for shipping from the Great Lakes to the
Mississippi. In the 1950s, the canal in Chicago was buried under the Stevenson
Expressway, but outside the city, the canal towpath enjoys new life as a
trail.
The Canal Passage is
a great place to enjoy the outdoors. Learn about history as you hike, bike,
bird
watch, and fish. Discover remnants of the native
prairies that once covered Illinois, and of the canal that transformed the
Midwest. Also visit the new LaSalle Canal Boat website to see all the exciting activities and programming for the LaSalle Canal Boat and Lock 16 Visitor Center.
For more information on the I & M Canal Passage call
800-926-CANAL. |
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