|
|
|
|
|
The first paper mill was built in 1875 at the upper end of the Island, at the head of the Locks, and used straw in the making of paper. Strawboard was manufactured at the rate of seven tons per day. This mill flourished for about three years when it burned down, but a new building was immediately erected, on the same site. New machinery was installed, the same kind as the old except that a large rotary was put in for cooking the straw.
During the year 1883, the mill was abandoned on account of lack of water power, caused by the loss of the 12 foot dam which was swept out by ice and flood. After this the mill was built on the present site. Water power, bought from The Fisher Brothers Flour Mill, was afforded by a 5 foot dam. Mr. M. D. Keeney started up here and again manufactured strawboard. An additional mill, with combination felt and roofing machine, was built in 1930.
On Main Street between Baltimore and Jackson, the hitching yard was located. Wild horses were driven here to be sold. The Westbound Stage Depot occupied the adjacent property. That part of Kankakee Street between River Road and Baltimore follows the same route as the early stage which ran between Chicago and Pontiac.
The railroad tracks which cross Kankakee Street came through in July of 1854. The funeral train bearing the body of Abraham Lincoln stopped here on its way to Springfield. The depot was draped in mourning, as was the entire town for that matter.
On the south side of the highway bridge over the Kankakee river, one can still see the remains of the rock embutments where the old wooden wagon bridge used to cross the river. Ice and floods tore out the wooden bridge in 1867, but it was immediately replaced with a steel bridge. This bridge was torn down when the concrete bridge was completed in 1920.
In 1860, the Prince of Wales hunted here as the prairies were full of all kinds of game birds. As a matter of fact, he was mulcted for hunting on Sunday!
In 1875, a butter and cheese factory was built. It produced 75,000 pounds of butter and 365,000 pounds of cheese a year, much of which was sold on the European market.
There was a race track on the north edge of town in the early 1900's with racing every Saturday afternoon.
The auto made its debut in the city in 1903. The first telephone was installed in the early 1900's. In 1907, the Wilmington Light and Power Company was incorporated.
In 1940, the Government purchased 40,000 acres of land north of Wilmington and established the Joliet Arsenal and the Elwood Ordinance. The city purchased the Island in 1949. The first gas mains were laid in 1953 and natural gas came to the city.
The post office was established in 1837.
Much of the beauty and charm of Wilmington is due to its ideal location on the Kankakee river, the bed of which is of solid rock. The Island in the river is famous far and wide for its natural beauties.
|
|
|
|
|