If you're a fan of discovering new destinations where history is on display in public parks,
on buildings, and even alongside waterways, you'll want to know about this next hidden gem.
I discovered Ottawa in Illinois. A few years back filming for my PBS series "Travels with
Darley" and I was recently able to return to take a deeper dive into the history of this city,
where entrepreneurs offer local shopping and culinary surprises,
and you can explore through water sports, cycling, and of course, on your own two feet.
Now when I open the door, take a deep breath.
The city of Ottawa in Illinois has a rich history relating to American Indians,
fur traders, Irish immigrants, and in modern times offers a mix of food and brews and outdoor adventures.
Many people venture to this part of La Salle County exploring Starved Rock State Park,
and to recreate along the Illinois River and historic Illinois and Michigan Canal Heritage
corridor. We're diving in by getting active to learn about this area's history from expert locals
by cycling and canoeing in and around the city.
We're in Ottawa, Illinois, traveling by canoe and bicycle with locals to better understand this area
of Illinois located 80 miles from Chicago. We're starting our adventures canoeing on the Illinois
River with local schoolteacher Pat Feehan who grew up in the area. Though Pat is more of a boater than
canoeer. He's agreed to travel by canoe with me today to get a true sense of the River's majesty.
Pat, what was it like growing up here in Ottawa? Well the river is a huge part of growing up in this
town. I learned how to swim at Bulls Island, which is right here on the river, and I can't tell you
how many other kids probably did that too. The Illinois River is a tributary of the mighty Mississippi
River connecting the Great Lakes with the Mississippi. It's been an important highway throughout history,
dating back to the time of Native Americans, and later with fur traders and explorers like
Marquette, Joliett and La Salle who traveled the river in the 17th century, documenting their journeys.
Marquette and La Salle came through and wrote back about the incredible wildlife, the buffalo,
the amount of deer, and they called this the area between the two rocks, which would be Buffalo
Rock and Star Rock. And when you realize that was 300 plus years ago, and then we're still here
enjoying the beauty of the bald eagle, the deer, and just everything that's so beautiful around here,
it really is a connection to history. Many area residents have strong connections to the Illinois
River and the Illinois and Michigan Canal, a 96 mile canal that was completed in 1848, linking the
Great Lakes to the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. When the Irish potato famine was kicking off,
this area became filled with Irish who were involved in the canal, which goes through Ottawa,
and that becomes an important part of commerce and it becomes an important part of the history of
the development of Illinois. And that's why to this day you still have so many Irish in these
communities and that's why I'm here today. Acting as a water highway, the canal helps
spur the growth of the city of Chicago, agriculture in northern Illinois, and the development and
diversity of many towns and cities along its path, like Ottawa. Well, a lot of the Irish when they left
Ireland because of the potato famine, they went down the river Shannon, which strikes an incredible
resemblance with the land and the vegetation with the Illinois River, and it's kind of ironic that
from the potato famine to digging the canal to being here today, it just seems like a full circle.
Cross an ocean on two different countries, but a lot of similarities, huh?
Just grand me last, you see that well. And I guess that's why to this day our boat is still known as
the Shannon Immigrant. It was in the 1830s and the 1840s that Irish immigrants came to Ottawa to help
build the canal. As the area developed with greater opportunities for jobs, more immigrants flocked
to the region, working in a variety of industries, and opening small businesses and farms that
depended on the canal to transport everything from pianos to buggies to farm equipment.
To learn more about the next chapter in Ottawa's history, I'm heading into town to meet Denny
Butte in Washington Square, a beautiful green space right in the middle of town with a rich history.
Listened on the National Register of Historic Places, Washington Square was the site of the first
Lincoln Douglas Sanitorial debate on August 21st, 1858. As Denny explains, it was very different from
our political debates of today. Back then, Lincoln and Douglas were running for the to be
Senator from Illinois, and at that stage, we did not vote for senators, the public didn't. They
were appointed by the state legislature. We didn't vote for senators till 1913. In the way the debate
worked back then was the first speaker spoke for an hour. Abraham Lincoln.
He had a lot of time. Right. Douglas had an hour and a half, and then Lincoln had a half-hour rebuttal.
And back then, with no PA systems, 14,000 people are so here in the park, they had to really shout
to be heard, and they say Lincoln's voice was kind of high-pitched. We say in Ottawa, that's where
Lincoln's voice was first heard, because there were stenographers here from all the major newspapers
in the country taking down their speeches word for word, all printed in the national papers the next day.
So that really brought Lincoln to national prominence. Based on this speech, he was asked to speak
at the Cooper Union in New York, so he gave an anti-slavery speech there. And it all started right
here in Ottawa. It all started right here in a little all out of one. Murals throughout town depicked
everything from the day of the debate to Ottawa's earliest residence to a renowned glass factory,
which provided glass to the Ford Motor Company in the early 20th century.
To see more of the downtown, I'm speeding along with Ottawa's former mayor, Robert Eschbach,
who grew up in Ottawa. This is a great mural that depicts a depression era scene. This was the only
bank of four in the city that did not close during the depression. And every once in a while,
the bank president would put money in the window to let people know that their funds were safe.
Huh, I like that story. In addition to murals, there are lots of places to eat and drink
in Ottawa. Bob has shown me a few of his favorite spots. Yeah, I think you'll enjoy this place,
Jeremiah Joe's. I can smell it from here. It smells great. It's great. This is a place to start
like the city's living room. Ever coffee shops should be. Absolutely. Coffee beans from central and
South America, Africa, and Asia are roasted on site at Jeremiah Joe. Housed in an old department store,
it's a gathering place for locals. The kind of place I like to visit on my travels.
Bob next leads me to another sweet spot. Now when I open the door, take a deep breath.
Everything is baked on-site at Ottawa Bakery. Started by a local baker who's also a mom who wanted
to have her own business. We opt for a sticky bun and are not disappointed. After all of this sugar
and caffeine, we need to ride. So we head across the Fox River to Ottawa's east side,
a neighborhood where historic homes represent architectural styles, including Greek revival,
Italianite craftsmen, and revival style houses from the early 20th century.
This is really a great historic neighborhood. Beautiful old homes. These brick streets are well
over a hundred years old. Oh wow. Yeah, the houses here are gorgeous. Yeah, the whole, the
whole east side is listed on the national registers historic district. For more history, we're riding
along the Illinois and Michigan Canal Toe Path, which today has around 60 miles of bike trails
for locals and travelers. Over here you'll see a replica of a canal boat. They were fairly narrow
because they had to fit through 14 sets of locks in the canal, but they could be a hundred feet long.
This one is actually a prop for a movie only in the water two days. We're approaching here the last
a tow collectors office on the canal built in the 1840s. The tow collectors also sort of like a judge
when when boat owners had disputes and whatever they would he would settle on. Nice little snack.
Another popular spot for bikers and Ottawa locals is located right alongside the Toe Path.
The cheese shop is in by Marty Rulland, who grew up in Ottawa and whose family has been in the
dairy business for generations. In fact, the cheese shop is housed in an old factory run by Marty's
family from before World War II to the late 1980s. Relics of the past line the walls and ceiling.
And if you have time, Marty will tell you a story or two best served up with some Midwestern cheese
or something more exotic. Riding alongside the canal with someone like Bob and seeing remnants of
the past has made me want to explore more of the I&M Canal's history. So I'm sitting down with Ann
Koval, president of the Canal Corridor Association to learn more. The I&M Canal is over 175 years old.
This year it's 175. What are some of the impacts that it had on the Midwestern economy?
Well, we wouldn't have Chicago really without the canal. So before the canal, St. Louis was the
premier Midwestern city once the canal came all the money moved to Chicago. And Chicago is still the
premier financial capital of the Midwest. So I would say that's the greatest impact. And then it had
lots of other cascading impacts like they changed the northern boundary of Illinois to go north.
It was supposed to be along the line of Indiana. But they didn't want two states to put
to have to work together to build the canal. And so my historian used to say to the kids in Chicago,
"You'd all be cheeseheads if it wasn't for the canal." So there are lots of like impacts like that.
But definitely like all of the industrial it all comes from the increased transportation
that the canal brought. Paint me a picture if I were back in the later part of the 1800s
traveling along the canal. What would I see? What are some things I might hear and experience?
So the canal was 96 miles long. And so first of all it would be quiet compared to what we think of
now because the boats were pulled by horses or mules. There's a towpath that the mules or horses
are walking on a long tow line pulling the boats. So that's before steam power and all those things
which is why it's so quiet. And it was just this small little waterway but it was so much easier
to move people and especially have you goods when you compare it to dirt roads or muddy roads and
stage coaches and things like that. So it was a huge improvement. How can people who are traveling
to this area experience the I&M canal today? What are the different ways that they can recreate or enjoy?
Right. Well so the biggest one is that we have a canal boat pulled by a mule and our mules name is
Moe and so that really helps people understand what it would have been like in 1848. Moe the mule is
pulling the barge. Yep he's big he's 1200 pounds but yeah so he's kind of the star of the show and it's
it's really I think interesting because people don't think of animals as work animals like we had at
the beginning of really since the beginning of America. Yeah how fun. What a great piece of history right here?
It is it is and people are always surprised there aren't very many canal boats and that are operating
actually in the whole country. And this is a heritage area that is also part of the National Park
Service? Right so the Heritage Area Program is a program of the National Park Service. We were
the first here in in 1984 and they're now 62 national heritage areas designated throughout the
country. So in LaSalle County the the western terminus of the canal is in the city of La Salle
and then as you go east you would go through Utica and Ottawa and Santa Cah. So all along that stretch
there's access points all along there so you could stop at any one of the access points and get
on the canal. Whether you say hi to Moe the mule by cycling or make a stop in a local bakery or
to grab a cup of Joe you made a side to stay a while to dig a little deeper into this Midwestern city.
Not far from Chicago but with deep roots in its past. Thanks for joining me for another Illinois
episode of Travels with Darliey the Podcast. And if you like this episode search for the Illinois
episodes of our PBS series and please subscribe for more podcast adventures.