Architecture
and the Canal
Whatever your taste from
Greek Revival to Italianate to Romanesque Revival to Queen Anne—-one can
find a wide variety of architectural gems in the I&M National Heritage
Corridor. There are many nationally recognized architectural and
engineering structures preserved throughout the corridor. Many towns,
including Morris, Lockport, and Ottawa, have well-preserved downtowns.
The I&M Canal brought
new kinds of architecture to the area, including grain elevators, the
"cathedrals of the prairie," and huge warehouses. The canal itself was
an engineering triumph, with its limestone walls and wooden locks, yet
it did not disrupt the landscape as much as the railroads and highways
later would. The towns that grew up along the canal developed thriving
commercial districts, which soon came to be surrounded by residential
areas. Today, along the leafy streets of canal towns, many of these
homes are still providing visitors with views of our shared
architectural legacy.
Although there is much
industrial, utilitarian architecture along the corridor, more ornate
buildings also are found. The Second Empire style of the massive
Hegeler-Carus Mansion (1874) in La Salle provided an elegant framework
for the printing presses of the Open Court Publishing Company, which
were housed in the two-story basement. The Italianate Reddick Mansion
(1858) in Ottawa, opposite historic Washington Square (site of the first
Lincoln-Douglas debate in 1858), is a sumptuously appointed
nineteenth-century home.
Some of the most
impressive structures in the corridor are built of native limestone.
This stone was used to great advantage in buildings such as the L-shaped
Joliet Public Library (1903), designed by noted Chicago- architect
Daniel Burnham, and the Joliet Penitentiary (1858). Many limestone
churches are also prominent in the corridor. St. James of the Sag Church
in Lemont dates back to 1833, with the present structure erected in 1853
and later modified. Used not only for public buildings but residential
and industrial structures as well, the distinctive limestone is also
evident in many homes throughout the region, such as the Fitzpatrick
House in Lockport.
Area residents not only
designed and constructed fine buildings, they also published manuals
which showed the common man how to build his own house. In 1857 Ottawa
native William E. Bell published a book called Carpentry Made Easy,
detailing an ingenious method of building called the balloon frame. The
method was developed in the 1830s by Chicagoan George Washington Snow.
This simple method, utilizing standard size boards and machine cut
nails, allowed even unskilled workers to build houses, quickly, cheaply,
and easily. Balloon frame construction helped to make possible the
incredible growth of the western U.S., where trees were scarce. Wood
from the Midwest, cut into standard-size boards, was shipped by rail to
the West. Most wooden buildings erected today still use a method of
construction derived from this system. |
