Dave Belden, a history teacher at Minooka High School, has published a book on the history of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. | Submitted photo
The growth of Grundy County can be directly traced to the building of I&M Canal. With the help of many foreign-born immigrants, the canal was dug through the northern part of the county and connected the cities of Channahon and Morris to the east and west
The Chicago Sanitary District separated the I&M Canal and Des Plaines River in Joliet during the 1890s. This photograph shows the I&M Canal in the foreground and the Des Plaines River in the background. The canal and locks were located along the west ba
In the 19th and early 20th centuries, boats that carried passengers and small freight were called packet boats. Packets just carried passengers. The origin of the word packet means a small pack, package, or parcel of importance. By the mid 1850s, the Ch
Dave Belden, a history teacher at Minooka High School, has published his fifth book about the history of this area. While the other four books were postcard collections, this publication, “Illinois and Michigan Canal,” is a collection of photographs dating to the late 1800s, with …
