History blog from Pat Camalliere Books- For Halloween: The Ghosts of the Quarries! October 26, 2023Halloween 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 … Continue reading →Pat Camalliere
- Submarines on the Chicago Sanitary Canal – No kidding! September 18, 2023My 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 … Continue reading →Pat Camalliere
- The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal August 6, 2023In 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 … Continue reading →Pat Camalliere
- Illinois and Michigan Canal Celebrates 175th Anniversary. July 6, 2023In 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. Continue reading →Pat Camalliere
- The Des Plaines River June 6, 2023I 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. … Continue reading →Pat Camalliere
- Train Wreck in Lemont, July 1905 May 9, 2023Last 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 … Continue reading →Pat Camalliere
- Lemont Train Wreck: August 16, 1873 April 17, 2023Is history repeating itself? Continue reading →Pat Camalliere
- Admiral Dewey and the Battle of the Sanitary Canal March 1, 2023The 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 … Continue reading →Pat Camalliere
- Lemont Streetcars – The Joliet and Chicago Electric Line February 19, 2023NewsOn 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 … Continue reading →Pat Camalliere
- The Ghosts of Sag Bridge January 29, 2023Recently 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 … Continue reading →Pat Camalliere
- For Halloween: The Ghosts of the Quarries! October 26, 2023
Category Archives: Lemont History
Illinois, The Sucker State
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Lemont History
Tagged Illinois, local history, new grand daughter, Sucker State
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Lemont Waterways: The Cal Sag Channel
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 … Continue reading
Submarines on the Chicago Sanitary Canal
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Lemont History
Tagged Chicago, Lemont, Lockport, Sanitary Canal, submarines, WWII
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Lemont Waterways – The River
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Lemont History
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Sag Bridge – Gone Town
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, … Continue reading
Posted in Lemont History
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Lemont and the Capones
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 … Continue reading
Posted in Lemont History
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Lemont – What’s in a name?
Lemont ca early 1900s (Photo courtesy of Lemont Historical Society) 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 … Continue reading
Posted in Lemont History
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