The Illinois and Michigan Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. In Illinois, it ran 96 miles (154 km) from the Chicago River in Bridgeport, Chicago to the Illinois River at LaSalle-Peru. The canal crossed the Chicago Portage, and helped establish Chicago as the transportation hub of the United States, before the railroad era. It was opened in 1848. Its function was partially replaced by the wider and deeper Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in 1900, and it ceased transportation operations with the completion of the Illinois Waterway in 1933.
LaSalle or La Salle is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States, located at the intersection of Interstates 39 and 80. It is part of the Ottawa, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area. Originally platted in 1837 over one square mile, the city's boundaries have grown to 12 sq mi (31 km2). City boundaries extend from the Illinois River and Illinois and Michigan Canal to a mile north of Interstate 80 and from the city of Peru on the west to the village of North Utica on the east. Starved Rock State Park is located approximately 5 mi (8 km) to the east. The population was 9,582 as of the 2020 census, down from 9,609 at the 2010 census. LaSalle and its twin city, Peru, make up the core of the Illinois Valley. Due to their combined dominance of the zinc processing industry in the early 1900s, they were collectively nicknamed "Zinc City."
Ottawa is a city in and the county seat of LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. It is located at the confluence of the navigable Fox River and Illinois River, the latter being a conduit for river barges and connects Lake Michigan at Chicago, to the Mississippi River, and North America's 25,000 mile river system. The population estimate was 18,742, as of 2020. It is the principal city of the Ottawa, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area.
Peru is a city in LaSalle County, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,896 at the 2020 census, down from 10,295 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Ottawa, IL Micropolitan Statistical Area. Peru and its twin city, LaSalle, make up the core of Illinois Valley.
The Open Court Publishing Company is a publisher with offices in Chicago and LaSalle, Illinois. It is part of the Carus Publishing Company of Peru, Illinois.
The East North Central states is a region of the United States defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, containing five states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin. These states border the Great Lakes, West North Central, the Southeastern, and Northeastern states; the Eastern North Central states also share a land border with Canada through Michigan's Upper Peninsula, southeastern, and mid-Michigan regions. As one of two subregional divisions used to categorize the Midwest, East North Central closely matches the area of the Northwest Territory, excluding a portion of Minnesota.
Paul Carus was a German-American author, editor, a student of comparative religion and philosopher.
The Morris–Jumel Mansion or Morris House is an 18th-century Federal style museum home in upper Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1765 by Roger Morris, a British military officer, and served as a headquarters for both sides in the American Revolution.
William Warren Boyington was an architect who designed several notable structures in and around Chicago, Illinois. He was also mayor of Highland Park, Illinois.
Julius Ludwig Weisbach was a German mathematician and engineer.
The John J. Glessner House, operated as the Glessner House, is an architecturally important 19th-century residence located at 1800 S. Prairie Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. Built during the Gilded Age, it was designed in 1885–1886 by architect Henry Hobson Richardson and completed in late 1887. The property was designated a Chicago Landmark on October 14, 1970. The site was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on April 17, 1970, and as a National Historic Landmark on January 7, 1976, and is maintained as a house museum.
The Chicago Board of Trade Building is a 44-story, 604-foot (184 m) Art Deco skyscraper located in the Chicago Loop, standing at the foot of the LaSalle Street canyon. Built in 1930 for the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), it has served as the primary trading venue of the CBOT and later the CME Group, formed in 2007 by the merger of the CBOT and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. In 2012, the CME Group sold the CBOT Building to a consortium of real estate investors, including GlenStar Properties LLC and USAA Real Estate Company.
John Mills Van Osdel was an American architect who is considered the first Chicago architect. He is considered a peer of the most prominent architects in the history of Chicago. He has also done significant work throughout Illinois and the Midwest, although much of it no longer exists.
Edward Carl Hegeler was an American zinc manufacturer and publisher.
Victor Andre Matteson was an American architect. His practice was based in Chicago and LaSalle, Illinois.
The Julius W. Hegeler I House is a historic building in LaSalle, Illinois, United States. Completed in 1904, the house was designed by Pond & Pond and is an excellent local example of Arts & Crafts architecture.
Christian Bai Lihme was a Danish-born naturalized American chemist, industrialist, and art collector.
The Mattheissen and Hegeler (M&H) Zinc Company was a zinc manufacturing company headquartered in LaSalle, Illinois. At one time, the family-owned company was the largest zinc manufacturing plant in the United States. The company brought zinc ore from Wisconsin and Missouri to the coal fields of Northern Illinois. The company and its founders had a large influence in the development of LaSalle & Peru, Illinois.
Mary Hegeler Carus was an American engineer, editor and entrepreneur. In 1882 she was the first woman to graduate in engineering from the University of Michigan.
