Most Smokey Row businesses had rented property in the downtown area of Lemont that was owned by early pioneer settlers. Many of these people were churchgoers, important and well respected in the community. Unhappy due to pressures put on them after the strip was raided in 1895, more and more owners refused to renew the rentals, and the demise of Smokey Row establishments followed. Within six months after the battle between Reverend Clancy and Mayor McCarthy only twenty-five saloons remained.

As bad as crime was in Smokey Row, it did not adversely affect the life of most Lemonters, since the revelry stayed mostly on three downtown streets. Also, its profits contributed to the welfare of the town through license fees and taxes from the establishments to the tune of $500,000 a year by 1894. Each license cost five hundred dollars, a large sum in those days. The village found itself torn between the money these enterprises brought and the disorder and lawlessness they caused. Without the revenue from Smokey Row, the village of Lemont would not have been able to construct the Village Hall and the school on McCarthy Road, the electric streetlights and street signs, at a time when most of the country was in an economic recession.

The hundred or so “establishments” that composed Lemont’s Smokey Row between 1893 and 1897 called themselves saloons, clubs, gambling halls, brothels, or dance halls. They had names like The Standard Club, The Big Casino, The Palace Saloon, The King of Hearts, Ted Boyle’s Place, Jawoski’s Place, Mazzie’s Place, and The Silver Dollar. Typically, in addition to liquor and gambling, women were part of the “trade”, and entertainment such as nude dancing was readily available.

The women and the saloons changed their names as frequently as they changed their clothes.

Lemont was not always the semi-isolated, quiet suburb it is now. Before 1900 the town was notorious throughout Chicagoland for its sin strip, Smokey Row. Just a short ride down the I & M Canal from Chicago, Lemont provided an abundance of places for gambling, liquor, and loose women, not to mention the entertainment of bar fights and even organized illegal prizefights.

I’m back with a new book, a new website, and new blog posts about local history! Welcome to both old and new readers!

  I’m so happy to be able to tell you that you can now order Staying Alive Is a Lot of Work: Me and My Cancer, through Eckhartz Press! The QR code at the bottom of the page will take you right to the order page. You can also browse other books available from Eckhartz

You are receiving this notice for one of two reasons: You are one of my blog subscribers, or you have met me at a recent event and asked to be notified when my memoir is available. That day is fast approaching! Since I last posted to my blog, I have been using every spare moment

Halloween is almost here! A good time to rell you about the Ghosts of the Quarries! Ghost hunters sometimes describe a phenomenon called the “stone tape theory.” The theory proposes that certain rocks have the ability to imprint—or “record” —energy and store images and events from the past. In other words, an event imprints itself

My last post revealed some amazing information about the building of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. If you missed that post, you can read it here: The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal | Pat Camalliere – The Cora Tozzi Historical Mystery Series (patcamallierebooks.com) But one of the most amazing stories, that few people knew

In last month’s blog, I spoke about the construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal and its tremendous importance to not only the Chicago area and Illinois, but to the opening to settlement of the entire United States west of the Eastern States. If you missed that article, you can read it here:  https://www.patcamallierebooks.com/2023/07/illinois-and-michigan-canal-celebrates-175th-anniversary/. After

In April of 1848, the I & M Canal officially opened. From April of 2023 through March of 2024, the I & M Canal Corridor Association is having a year-long celebration of this event.

I get excited when I talk about Lemont’s waterways, because they are so important not only to the growth of Chicago, but to westward expansion across the entire continent. The only place all these important waterways come together is Lemont. Today’s article is about the Des Plaines River, which was created some 13,000 years ago

Last month’s post was about a train wreck in Lemont on the Alton-Chicago Railroad in 1873. Today we continue the subject of train wrecks with the Santa Fe derailment that also occurred in Lemont in 1905. The Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad (Santa Fe) had planned since the late 1880s to run a line to

Is history repeating itself?

The I & M Canal had been a tremendous success in opening up shipping and transportation between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River. However, during dry periods the level wasn’t sufficient to float the barges and boats, and during heavy rains the river would overflow into the canal and send water back into the lake,

News On Sunday, February 26, at 2 p.m. I will be speaking at the Lemont Historical Society about the “Lost Town of Sag Bridge.” If you have not already attended this talk, I hope you will come. If you have attended it some years ago, you may like to come again, since the program has

Recently I’ve been speaking at libraries and other local organizations about the history of Sag Bridge, a town that once existed near Archer Avenue, where Route 83 makes a turn from a north-south road to an east-west road. Although it is now part of the Village of Lemont, Sag Bridge was once a town of

I am so excited to announce the arrival of my newest book, The Miracle at Assisi Hill, which has been two years in the making. It’s here at last, just in time for Holiday gifting (or gift yourself!).  For those of you who have read my previous books, Cora Tozzi is back in this one, with many

Chicago’s South Side Mob – Concluded #4The FBI and Fun Facts What effect did the government and law enforcement have on the Mob?Among the skills developed by the Outfit was the ability to avoid, minimize, and overturn criminal punishment. Money was spent wherever necessary: payoffs for looking the other way, bribes, top legal defense, whatever it

Now that the holidays are over and things seem to have calmed down, hopefully you are looking for things to read while the weather is still keeping most of us indoors. This is part three of a series of articles about the South Side Chicago mob. This segment focuses on the Chicago Outfit during the period after

CHICAGO HEIGHTS AND JIMMY EMERY This is part two of a series about the South Side Chicago mob. I hope it will provide you a moment of respite from the troubles of this trying year. Since my teen years I had many friends who were Italian, and later I became Italian by marriage, so my

Since my teen years I had many friends who were Italian, and later I became Italian by marriage, so my sons are partly of Italian heritage. When I decided to write a historical mystery novel based on a friend whose family had loose ties to organized crime in the late 1950s, I did a fair

A major setting in my novel The Mystery at Mount Forest Island is the former site of Argonne Laboratory Site A. Not only did Site A conduct major research that led to the creation of the atomic bomb, but today the laboratory is figuring prominently in the fight against Covid-19. In 1939 Albert Einstein sent

Some years ago I spoke at the Lemont Historical Society on the history of local golf courses. While doing research for the talk, I stumbled across one of the first courses in the area, the Palos Golf Course, owned and operated by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County (FPDCC). The course opened in 1921

Due to recent events I thought you would be interested in reading about how epidemics were handled over a hundred years ago, with both similarities and differences to today’s pandemic.

My new release (due soon – stay tuned!) is titled The Mystery at Mount Forest Island. So where is Mount Forest Island, you may ask? It is a triangular-shaped elevation of land between Lemont, Willow Springs and Palos. Most of Mount Forest Island is Cook County Forest Preserves today, but its history is fascinating. When

Exciting news! My new novel, The Mystery at Mount Forest Island. is now in the design phase at Amika Press and should be out soon! Meanwhile, enjoy reading the last article in the series about surveying Northern Illinois. If you have read the first two posts in this series about surveying Northern Illinois, it is

If you’ve walked through County Forest Preserve trails you have some idea of what Northern Illinois looked like before Illinois became a state in 1818. The land was wilderness: woods and grasslands…

If you’ve walked through County Forest Preserve trails you have some idea of what Northern Illinois looked like before Illinois became a state in 1818. The land was wilderness: woods and grasslands. Native American trails were intended for foot traffic. Travel was on rivers and streams or following migratory herds after farming season was over.

One translation of Shabbona’s name is “Built like a Bear,” and from all reports the name fits. As the picture above shows, he was a tall man, with broad shoulders—a large, muscular man of commanding appearance. He was an important Potawatomi leader. The exact date of his birth is not known, but Shabbona himself stated

Today’s guest blogger is Dan Melone, a Chicagoland Archaeologist and Robinson Family Historian. Dan received a M.A. in Archaeology and Heritage from the University of Leicester, in England. For over 20 years, Dan has documented numerous sites within many county forest preserves in Chicago and the suburbs, on private land throughout Northern Illinois, and Southern

Although Billy Caldwell was an educated man, written records of his life, obtained mostly from interviews, contain contradictions, and are subject to debate. He is represented as both a hero and an opportunist. We do know he had significant effect on the development of Northern Illinois and the Potawatomi nation. No pictures of Billy Caldwell

During the two years I conducted research for The Mystery at Black Partridge Woods, I encountered a number of little-known but remarkable Native American persons. I thought my readers would be interested in knowing more about their lives. Today’s post is about Black Partridge, the man for whom Black Partridge Woods, and my book, was

  On December 3, 1818, Illinois became the 21st state in the Union. Last month’s blog was part one of an excerpt from my mystery novel, The Mystery at Black Partridge Woods. Today’s post is the conclusion, and depicts what life was like in Northern Illinois near Chicago as it would have been at the

ILLINOIS BICENTENNIALLIFE IN NORTHERN ILLINOIS TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGOPART ONE   After the Revolutionary War, the Northwest Territories were set aside as  lands belonging to the newly-formed United States. The territories were Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, and Wisconsin. One by one, as sufficient population was reached, each territory became a state. Settlement of Illinois began in

Forest Fires: Why the Chicago Area Doesn’t Have Them “Stop the car! Just stop, now! Look!” Despite that he was driving in bumper to bumper traffic, I insisted that my husband, Chris, see what I was seeing – the most awesome sight of my life. This is what I saw: See that thin road way

REMISSION   “Kyrie eleison, eleison.” Whereas most major classical works begin with orchestral instruments, the opening notes of Haydn’s Missa Cellensis in C, the Mariazeller Mass, are sung by the chorus. This is a challenge for singers, who get no customary clues from the orchestra, no pitch, no tempo, no dynamics.   The conductor lifted

One of my writing resources is The Emotion Thesaurus, by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. The book details some 75 emotions. I experienced most of them at one time or another during the course of my disease. I get compliments from friends and readers on my courage and positive attitude. I don’t think I’m doing

Recovery  “The long black skirt is classic, but the navy mid-calf with the paisley border print is dated,” Clare, my daughter-in-law, said. “Don’t be angry with me…” With the ten pounds I lost intentionally last year and the twenty pounds I lost since cancer entered my life, my clothes didn’t fit anymore. For years I

Angels and Heroes Angel: Someone very good, helpful, or kind. Angels make you smile when you see them. They make your day when you are sad or in pain. They are sweet and help people in need, especially those going through really tough times. The name “Angel” says it all.   Hero: A person who

Support Services: Nutrition and Speech Therapy I lost five pounds from the time I was being tested for cancer until the beginning of treatment. Since I was twenty or thirty pounds overweight, that seemed like a silver lining to me. If I had to go through a nasty time, at least I could come out

#9 Side Effects of Cancer Treatment – Other than Skin & Mouth I shuffled into the kitchen in pajamas and robe about 8 am, as usual. “How are you doing this morning, hon?” Chris asked. “About the same,” I rasped. My reply was unintelligible. “Huh?” He lifted his head from reading the newspaper and blinked.

#8 – Side Effects of Cancer Treatment – Mouth As I write this, every surface in my mouth is covered with slime and I have a metallic taste that will not go away. It is four weeks after I finished chemotherapy and almost three weeks after my last radiation therapy. This condition is called mucositis.

#7 – Side Effects of Cancer Treatment – Skin The effect I want from cancer treatment, of course, is a cure. I want all existing cancer and any microscopic seeds traveling through my body gone forever, and good health restored. I am fortunate to live today instead of twenty years ago when the outcome for

A Day in the Life of a Cancer Patient Before my first radiation treatment I was told I could make the next few months easier if I did certain things. “Start now. Prevention is key to success.” I wanted an easier journey, so I agreed enthusiastically. “Tell me what I have to do. I’ll make

Chemotherapy/Immunotherapy My oncology team recommended, in addition to thirty-five radiation treatments, eight infusions of Cetuximab. Cetuximab is not the only medical (pharmaceutical) option for treatment of head and neck cancers. Other agents, such as Cisplatin, fluorouracil, Paclitaxel, and more, are used depending on each specific patient and recommendation of the oncology team. In my case,

Radiation Therapy What treatment options were there for my cancer? Surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy are all used to treat cancer. Surgery removes areas of cancer directly by cutting them out, but what if the area is hard to get at or would be disfiguring, as in my case? Radiation therapy is targeted. It kills cancer

Head and Neck Cancer: A Personal Journey #3 – Cancer Treatment Begins – The First Two Days On January 2, my husband, Chris, drove me to Rush University Medical Center for minor surgery, an exam under anesthesia and biopsy. I was not very nervous. The surgery was a minor one, and I had had some

Getting Ready for Cancer Treatment Due to surgical scheduling availability and other factors, I could not start treatment for my cancer until January 2, but then things would move very rapidly. I would have preferred to begin immediately for peace of mind, safety, and to get things over with, but I was assured that this

I’m taking a short break from writing about local history while I complete treatment for recently-diagnosed head and neck cancer. For the next couple of months I will be writing instead about my experiences with cancer, hoping that some of you will find the information helpful. Please feel free to forward my posts to others

Do you know Marie Rouensa? No? Maybe she’s more familiar to you by her Native American name, Aramepinchone? You don’t recognize that name either? Marie is a woman well worth knowing. Marie Rouensa was born in 1677. Her father was the Kaskaskia Chief Mamenthouensa, also chief of the Illiniwek Confederation, a group of approximately 10,000 Native Americans

Three-year-old Elsie, 1893-1896 The first permanent settlers came to Northern Illinois in the 1830s and by the mid-1800s many nearby towns had grown to be of significant size. On 127th Street in Lemont is St. Matthew’s Cemetery. Cemeteries like St. Matthew’s are not unique to Lemont. Many small graveyards like it were built in the

With the Chicago Air and Water Show about to begin, I thought it a good time to tell the story of a giant of Air Racing and local boy made famous! In the late 1920s and the entire 1930s, America was in love with the sport of air racing. No racer fired the spirit as

Many ghost hunters describe something called the “limestone theory,” holding that paranormal activity is more frequent in areas where there are large amounts of limestone. One possible explanation is that the chemical makeup of limestone is similar to that of magnetic recording tape, and therefore is prone to being imprinted, thus capturing and storing activity.

  When I found out my writer friend, Diane Andersen, had written about historic Illinois Christmas traditions, I invited her to write something for my December blog, and she graciously accepted.   By way of introduction, although exploration and fur trading was taking place in Illinois as long ago as the 1600s, the earliest permanent

  Yesterday afternoon my husband pulled me away from my computer to take a walk on what might turn out to be the last warm day before the onset of winter. I picked the place though. I had done a lot of walking and picture-taking from the bluffs that overlook the Des Plaines River Valley

When I read The Ambitious Madame Bonaparte by Ruth Hull Chatlien, I was surprised to find that Niagara Falls was visited by tourists as early as 1804, by people such as Jerome Bonaparte and his wife, as well as Aaron Burr’s daughter and husband. As a follow-up to my post about Niagara Falls, I asked

Want to know more about what it takes to see your novel in print? Join me Saturday in Elgin! Free program but be sure to register: gailborden.info/register or call 847-429-4597 Saturday in Elgin doesn’t work for you? The same program will be given at the Lemont Library. Saturday, November 5, 2016, 1-3 pm Lemont Public

Last month I wrote about the Chicago Portage, the route used by American Indians, explorers, and others to travel from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi, and the reason Chicago became one of the greatest cities in the world. I took my family on vacation to Niagara Falls this past summer, and, knowing that originally

 I’d like to invite you to my  Book Release Party at Smokey Row Antiques on Saturday, October 1 from 3 pm to 5 pm. Come and say hello, share  some refreshments, and  help me celebrate the publication of The Mystery At Black Partridge Woods. I’ll be so happy to welcome my friends, both old and new, and hope

My official Book Release Party is at Smokey Row Antiques on Saturday, October 1 at 3 pm. Come and say hello, share some refreshments, and help me celebrate the publication of   The Mystery At Black Partridge Woods. I will also be signing books this Friday, 6:30 pm at the Lemont Historical Society’s Art Walk, beginning

Those of you who follow this blog are well acquainted by now with the importance of the area’s rivers and waterways to the Chicago area. This weekend you have a unique opportunity to see this history first-hand at A River Thru History Rendezvous in Willow Springs. I will be there, signing my new release, The

My new book release, The Mystery at Black Partridge Woods, has a number of scenes where the characters travel through the Chicago Portage.  It was this arrangement of bodies of water and ground level that was responsible for the City of Chicago. To understand its importance, you need to know the geography. The large “island”

I am very excited to announce that The Mystery at Black Partridge Woods is now available for purchase at Amazon! It is also available on Kindle and Kobo now, and soon will be available for Barnes and Noble and iBook.   Here’s the link: Buy at Amazon Here’s the description:  A legendary water beast, mysterious

As The Mystery at Black Partridge Woods nears completion, I’d like to tell you some of the interesting history of the time period of that story—Northern Illinois, 1817. In the story, Cora, an amateur historian, and Nick, a scientist of Potawatomi Indian heritage, collaborate to publish the story of his ancestor. The book they have

Did you ever wonder what it was like here before Lemont was settled, before Illinois was a state? Start by imagining you are walking one of the trails in our beautiful forest preserves, but look at what surrounds the trail and imagine the trail is not there. How would you go from place to place

Maine Coon Cats were the subject of my last blog so today’s post will give equal time to dog lovers and feature the Newfoundland breed. Both a Maine Coon Cat and a Newfoundland Dog appear in my next book, The Mystery at Black Partridge Woods, which will be released soon! Sorry, this post is a

The Maine Coon Cat is the only show cat breed that originated in the United States. What does that have to do with Marie Antoinette? The origin of the breed is speculative, but one legend has it that prior to her execution in 1793, Captain Clough was part of an unsuccessful rescue attempt to help

Blog Posts will resume shortly, but I’ve been busy!Below are three exciting announcements to explain why the March post is delayed! Announcing: The Mystery at Black Partridge Woods   The Lost Town of Sag Bridge lecture The History & Anecdotes of Lemont, Illinois   The Mystery at Black Partridge Woods Soon to be released by Amika Press,

Contrary to what one might expect, early settlers of Northern Illinois, beginning in the 1830s, were not all poor. Some left eastern states for expected greater opportunity in Illinois and arrived with sufficient means to purchase land. They brought food, clothing, furniture, wagons, and livestock with them. They built their homes, cleared the land, planted

Bank robberies are a serious business, but the robbery of the Clearing State Bank that took place on July 9, 1921, definitely had comic aspects ala Keystone Cops, although in this case Lemont cops got the upper hand in the end. The gang of six was led by Martin “Big Six” Sicks, a notorious bank

The best Christmas present I ever received was a painting set. I was twelve years old that Christmas. Perhaps you remember how intensely a twelve-year-old can focus on a wanted item. It was all I could think of, yet I can’t begin to tell you now why I wanted it. I had no known talent

The late 1890s seems to be when ghost activity peaked in the area of Sag Bridge, Illinois, now the northeast corner of Lemont. Many ghostly tales, some well documented, began here. In late December, 1897, a rash of new sightings and hauntings was stirred up. Some said it was due to the discovery of the

Previous posts have told of both Lemont’s Smokey Row and relations to the Chicago mob. You might say today’s story embellishes on that theme. The story is part of Lemont lore, and likely is essentially true, as the original versions quoted names and gave more details. I’m giving an abbreviated version here. An establishment once

When I walked through Dellwood Park in Lockport for the first time, I came across a crumbling staircase and the remnants of an old dam. Only after I checked on-line did I realize what I had stumbled across, a unique treasure from the early 1900s, related to my last blog post about the Chicago and

I find it amazing that, over a hundred years ago, before the automobile was in general use, transportation to and from Lemont offered more options than today. In the year 1905, for example, the following options were available: A few passengers took barges up or down the I & M Canal, still in operation at

Did you know that land and plants from Lemont went into the creation of Chicago’s Lincoln Park? And that you can walk the Keepataw Trail that traversed through that property? On the north bluff of the Des Plaines River Valley, between the river and Argonne Laboratory, is Waterfall Glen, managed by the Du Page Forest

Of the hundred or so “establishments” that composed Lemont’s Smokey Row between 1893 and 1897, some called themselves saloons, clubs, gambling halls, brothels, or dance halls. Typically, in addition to liquor and gambling, women were part of the “trade”, and entertainment such as nude dancing was readily available and advertised. Although tolerated for the income these

News I thought I’d lead off with the picture I promised you of my new granddaughter, Mia Elena. She is 15 days old today, and was 5 days old when this picture was taken. Grandma is very proud, of course, and made her little hat.   Better than the map picture I would have led off with.

    You probably recognize Illinois’s state nickname as, The Land of Lincoln. That’s what you read on coins and auto license plates, right? Perhaps you also recognize Illinois as The Prairie State. What you may not know is that for much of the 19th century, Illinois had a less noble nickname: The Sucker State.

  So here’s the bottom line. After almost 80 years and three generations of effort to improve the Chicago waterways, to allow for adequate flow away from Chicago and Lake Michigan, to ensure water levels that would not allow flow back into the lake—guess what? It still didn’t work as planned! At low water levels,

When I was in high school, boys said they took their girl to watch submarine races, meaning they went “necking”. After you read this you may wonder if this is how that old saying got started. Today I’m talking about real United States World War II submarines traveling down the Sanitary Canal. In 1940, the

  I promised you a story about the opening of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The truth is, not everyone was in favor of the canal. St. Louis filed a lawsuit in 1899 to prevent the opening, fearing it would do little more than dilute Chicago’s pollution, move the contamination further “downstream” and poison

Picture of men in crane basket during construction of the Canal in Lemont, 1895. Photo courtesy the Lemont Area Historical Society. This is my favorite canal—okay, I know—that’s strange, to have a favorite canal. But what a canal! The ambition was huge. Nothing like this had ever been done. The Sanitary District of Chicago was

The Lemont section of the I & M canal was dug initially by French and Irish men who were recruited from Canada, where jobs for unskilled laborers were scarce. Later they were joined by Irish and German immigrants. Irish men from certain regions of Ireland had a great deal of difficulty getting along with each

Following a smattering of frontiersmen, explorers, and fur traders who moved through the area, early non-native settlers were predominantly farmers and tradesmen who settled here after the War of 1812 until the early 1830s. The construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, which began when the first shovel of dirt was removed symbolically on July

This is a view of the Des Plaines River taken in August 2015, when the water was low. Note the calm ripples and vegetation mid-river. Note the shallow banks. Imagine how this same spot would look with the river at flood stage and how much of the surrounding area would be covered. Native Americans called

Correction: In last week’s article, in my desire to point out the reason the golf course and Argonne laboratory could not exist side by side, I inappropriately referred to Argonne as a “secret atomic bomb complex”. This shortcut to making a point resulted in an inaccurate statement, as I should have explained that the experiments

In an earlier post about Al Capone’s connections with Lemont, I mentioned a lost golf course. There has been a lot of recent interest in this topic, so I’m going to tell you more about it. The photo on the right above is the clubhouse of the Palos Golf Club. As you can see, it

Sag Bridge is now part of the Village of Lemont, but at one time it was a village in its own right. It boasted a hotel and it had its own post office, a number of businesses, a railroad station, a stop on the electric line between Chicago and Joliet, and a port on the

Lemont and the Capones Okay, so this picture isn’t the Capones, but this early Lemont saloon does show you what taverns were like in the early 1900s. Note that there are no stools, and men gathered at the bar or around the stove. It was also common to allow children in saloons, although it wasn’t

My novel, Mystery at Sag Bridge is set in the town of Lemont, a suburb about twenty-five miles southwest of downtown Chicago, Illinois. Future blogs will delve into interesting facts and rants about the wonders of Lemont, but today I’d like to tell you how it was named. Potawatomi tribes inhabited the Lemont area prior to the 1830s, at which