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Town on the Bluffs


Lemont’s neighborhoods rise on the bluffs above its downtown and three waterways – the narrow I&M Canal, the wide Sanitary and Ship Canal, and the marshy Des Plaines River. Native Americans traveled the river by canoe on their trading trips between the Mississippi and Lake Michigan. The I&M Canal made this natural passageway navigable for commerce in 1848, and in 1900 the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal created a modern shipping channel that also carried away Chicago’s waste.

Lemont’s motto is “Village of Faith” and its church spires reflect the many ethnic groups who came here to quarry stone, dig the Sanitary and Ship Canal and work in other industries. The tradition continues just north of the waterways on the east side of Lemont Road, where the Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago was built in 1986 by master sculptors and artisans from India.

Access to nature and history
Lemont is nestled between several Forest Preserves, including Black Partridge and Keepataw Preserves on the north, both named for local Native American leaders. To the east, the huge Palos Forest Preserve contains a portion of the I&M Canal, Little Red Schoolhouse Nature Center, trails through scenic hills and woods, and marshy sloughs that are a haven for migrating birds. The preserve surrounds the historic St. James of the Sag Church and cemetery, which contains canal-era graves.

To the southwest of Lemont, discover the region’s Native American and fur trading heritage at Isle a la Cache Museum. To reach the museum from the driving tour, go west from New Avenue on Romeo Road over the river 1 mile to the museum.

©2002 Canal Corridor Association