THE
SUPERIOR ADVANTAGES
OF THE
CITY of JOLIET,
ILLINOIS.
COMPILED BY
Lifornia Univ
Q, HOPKINS KOWELL
.onal b( J ^_
lity
JOLIET:
HKPLTBLICAN STKAM PRESS.
<;KITZNKK & HENDERSON, HOOK AXD JOB PRFNTEBS.
1871.
WISCONSIN
JOLIET
'
<
THE
GREAT RESOURCES,
AND
SUPERIOR ADVANTAGES
OF THE
CITY of JOLIET
ILLINOIS.
COMPILED BY
"HOPKINS RoWELL
JOLIET:
REPUBLICAN STEAM PRESS.
GEITZNER & HENDEBSON, BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS.
1871.
NTRODUCTORY.
OLIET is the shire town of Will county, Illinois. It is forty
miles southwest of Chicago, and has a population of about
ten thousand inhabitants. The Des Plainc River, and Illinois
& Michigan Canal pass through the city. The broad plain or
valley of the river, with its fall of thirty fuct, within the city limits
affords a spacious, pleasant and healthy site for a great manufac-
turing and business city while the undulating bluffs on either side
furnish thousands of charming locations for city residences.
Its railroad facilities are not surpassed, except at Chicago,
Being parallel with the head of Lake Michigan, it is on the great
central air-line route of trade and travel, from ocean to ocean. This
advantage can hardly be over-estimated. It is causing an increased
yearly divergence of trade from Chicago, over the Joliet Cut-Off
route. It also affords us local shipping facilities to Boston and New
York as cheap as that city possesses. Few towns can be more healthy
or as well supplied with the purest water. The gas works are
ample for thirty thousand inhabitants. And there are over thirty
miles of finely graded streets. The generous support of eleven
flourishing churchtes ; and of schools in like proportion, are evidence
of the liberality and public spirit of our citizens. For a fuller expo-
sition of our superior advantages, we refer to the following pages.
Does any one ask why we advertise our city ? We reply that
it is to spread abroad a knowledge of those advantages, and strive
to build up here what nature formed us for a great industrial and
manufacturing city.
4: JOLIET: ITS RESOURCES
We have every facility, and only need capital and skilled labor
to attain this desired result. Do you again ask why we have waited
until now to tell our story ?
We answer, that we have only now got our resources together.
We have just tapped Lake Michigan, and henceforth possess a never-
failing flood of wealth pouring through our city. We have just dis-
covered and developed the best coal mines in the West, ensuring
cheap fuel for the million, and propelling power for machinery. We
have just had a thorough scientific test of Jolict stone, confirming its
superiority to all western samples. We have just gained access by
rail, to the silver mines of Utah, enabling us to get their ores for
smelting. And we have but just brought to light, through our
artesian wells, those copious gushing fountains of the purest water.
All of these, added to our previous vast resources, as hereinafter set
forth, justify us in spreading before the world these facts, and this
pamphlet. Justify us in efficiently advertising our matchless resour-
ces, and holding out the inducements for labor, capital, and diversified
industries to come among us.
We are not wholly unselfish in this movement. We expect to
magnify our own local prosperity ; but we promise that the benefit
shall be reciprocal ; we agree to give you a full equivalant. We
offer you good wages; cheap and pleasant homes; cheap fuel;
cheap food ; large dividends on capital, and an equal portion in our
onward growth and prosperity. Therefore, we say not in a pro-
fane sense, but in a literal material sense, to the workman, the
mechanic, the artisan, the manufacturer, the capitalist, and the enter-
prising founder of every new industry, seeking a western locality,
" Come, thou, with us, and we will do thee good."
AJDVAOTAGES.
COMMERCIAL FACILITIES.
Joliet has commercial facilities superior to every city in Illinois,
Chicago alone excepted. Only a brief investigation is requisite to
establish this position.
First It is on the great air-line route of trade and travel from
east to west. Those great trunk-line railroads the Chicago, Rock
Island & Pacific, and the Chicago & St. Louis, with its Pacific con-
nection both converge here, freighted with the boundless riches
of the illimitable "West.
Joliet ships a goodly portion of these treasures due east over
the Cut-Off road, instead of sending them on a triangular passage
via Chicago. This divergence of trade from Chicago augments so
rapidly that a double-track line due east will soon be an imperative
necessity. Hence our local dcalcars pay Chicago prices for pork
and grain during the winter market, enabling us to challenge com-
parison, and defy competition with all other towns. Corroborating
testimony is found in the fact that wagon loads of pork and grain
have, during the past winter, come from a distance of forty miles,
past other market towns, to secure the higher prices paid at Joliet.
Second Joliet enjoys a like superiority as a distributive centre
for the shipment of goods, wares, and products, in all directions, too
and from all parts of the country. Because, super-added to our
great trunk and air-line route of trade, and our local railroad con-
nections with each other, and numerous outside diverging lines, we
also virtually enjoy the entire net-work of Chicago roads, owing to
our suburban proximity to that city.
Third Our canal gives us another commercial advantage via
cheap lake and river transportation. "When made into a ship canal,
as it soon must be, Joliet may ship cargoes without breaking bulk,
via the lakes and Mississippi River, to all parts of the world. Our
spacious canal and river basins afford us miles of superior wharfage.
NATURAL RESOURCES.
Nature has endowed Joliet, and "Will county with a profusion
and vastnoBS of resources unsurpassed by any other locality 011 this
continent if it is equaled upon the globe. This is a pretty bold
Mertion, but let u* ee,
JOLIET: ITS RESOURCES
J^'irs t Are our commercial advantages, present and prospective
a* set tort 1 1 in the preceding article under that head. We refer the
reader to a candid consideration of its incontestible truths.
Second Our Joliet marble and stone quarries, surpassing in
quality and extent all others in the country. These constitute a source
of wealth that will long endure after the gold mines of California
Khali have vanished from existence. The products of these quarries
readied nearly one million of dollars the past year finding a market
in ten different states, and yet their development has scarcely
begun. \Ve invite the reader's attention to an article headed
" Stone,'" giving fuller details of this invaluable interest.
Third A water-power unsurpassed in volume and durability
is to be ours. We have the river Des Plaines for a mill-race, and
Lake Michigan for a mill-pond, and a fall of thirty feet, within the
city limits, Avith additional power just above and below us. This
flood of wealth can never fail us, (unless Lake Michigan dries
up) and is sure to found a city of extensive manufacturing propor-
tions. Mr. Gooding, State Engineer of the Illinois & Michigan
Canal, declares this water-power equal to any on the continent. The
reader is referred to his article on " Canal and Water- Power," in
another part of this pamphlet.
Fourth Our fourth invaluable resource is found in the exten-
sive coal mines of Will County, just below the city. This coal is
superior to any in the state, and proves to be the only Illinois coal
adapted to smelting purposes, and must soon build up an extensive
iron interest here, besides our rolling mills. Moreover, our eastern
capitalists can not fail to seize upon this point for establishing silver
ore smelting-works, as great quantities of this ore now pass from
the western mines, through Joliet, en route to Swansey, in Wales,
for smelting. Mr. Reed, Engineer of the Pacific Railroad, furnishes
our pamphlet a valuable article on this topic. Certain, it is, that
Joliet is blessed with perpetual cheap fuel for domestic and manufac-
turing purposes.
Fifth A fifth resource is the best and most extensive cement
gravel beds any where known; the shipments from which during
the past year aggregate near a quarter of a million of dollars. The
demand is yearly increasing. We furnish an article headed, " Cement
Gravel," giving fuller details.
Sixth An unequaled and inexhaustable supply of cheap build-
ing materials ; including stone, brick, lime, sand, and even lumber.
These facts are otherwhere fully set forth.
ADVANTAGES. 7
Seventh A surrounding country unrivalled in the extent and
richness of its agricultural resources. At our Will county fair last
fall, the best judges pronounced the exhibition of stock, including
blooded horses, cattle, and swine, equal to any at the State Fair.
While samples of grain, dairy, and vegetable products, could not
be surpassed in the East or West. Judge Randall treats of this sub-
ject elsewhere.
JZif/hth Our sightly and beautiful surroundings, healthy loca-
tion, and artesian wells, affording an abundant supply of the purest
water.
yinth The rich and rare deposits at the Joliet Mound IVorfc.
Those products are no where excelled. The bath-brick are quite
equal to those imported from Europe; while the fire-brick, drain-
tile, and stone sewer-pipe, are equal to the best.
We invite a candid consideration of the resources here enumera-
ted; and do not hesitate to ask what locality can show an equal
record V What point so eligible for all diversified industrial and
manufacturing enterprises, and promising so rich returns >r labor,
and the investment of surplus eastern capital?
CANAL AND WATER-POWER
In a letter received by us, from the Hon. Wm. Gooding, of
Lockport, for more than thirty years State Engineer for Illinois, he
says,
" If you can adopt some practical plan to make the commerual
and industrial advantages of Joliet fully understood in sections of
country where capital and population are more abundant than here,
it must result most favorably to your city ; and consequently a large
section of surrounding country. Even Lockport (dead enough at
present) would sooner or later feel the influx to some extent, of cap-
ital and labor. I have frequently expressed the opinion, which I
never entertained more strongly than now, that the time would
come when the six miles intervening between the lock here, at the
running out of the Lake Michigan level, and the head of Lake
Joliet, will be one of the most important manufacturing districts
in t/ie world! This may seem somewhat extravagant, but what
other section of country of similar extent embraces so many impor-
tant advantages ?
" In this distance is nearly half the fall between Lake Michigan
and the Illinois River at its mouth or connection with the Mississippi
and for water-power Lake Michigan forms an ample reservoir for all
practical purposes, No one who has thoroughly investigated the
8 JOLIET: ITS RESOURCES
subject, can doubt for a moment that this is to be one of the greatest
commercial thoroughfares upon our continent, and that the Illinois
& Michigan Canal is now a mere ditch compared with what it will
be ; but the canal will probably be enlarged only to the head of
Lake Joliet, and from that point, down the river, improved to admit
river steamers of the largest capacity.
" So much for water communication, and water-power. Then,
Joliet is just upon the margin of one of the finest coal-fields in the
West; so that cheap steam-power for manufacturing, can always be
commanded.
" The finest stone quarries that can be found any where, are in
your immediate vicinity; and the quantity of superior building
material is inexhaustible.
"Joliet is already a great railroad center ; and more roads are
coming; so that, with these competing lines of railroad, and the
canal and improved river, cheap transportation may be calculated
upon with certainty.
" Raw materials can be obtained as cheaply at this point as any
other ; and it could not be more centrally situated for the distribution
of the products of the various manufactures. The surrounding
country is unsurpassed for beauty and fertility ; and no more healthy
region can be found even among the New England hills. But par-
don me for stating thus hastily and imperfectly a few only of the
facts which your meeting will doubtless consider and place i:i a
clear and attractive form before our eastern friends.
" I am opposed to any exaggeration of our advantages, but am
quite certain that a simple and truthful statement of facts will aston-
ish those who never properly considered them.
" Truly, yours,
"Wat. GOODING."
RAILROADS.
BY HO2f. H. N. MARSH, OF JOLIET.
It needs but a glance at the map to show the almost unparalleled
advantages of Joliet, as a railroad center. Few cities east or west
possess equal facilities for procuring by rail, the raw material from
the sources of supply, or of shipping manufactured goods to all points
of the compass, as Joliet.
"Westward, the C. R. I. & P. R. R. brings within our reach the
fertile fields of Iowa, the mineral stores of Colorado, Utah and Ne-
vada, and the boundless wealth of the Pacific coast
AND ADVANTAGES. 9
By its branches and connections we have access to the agri-
cultural riches of northern and western Illinois, southern Wis-
consin, to the teeming cereal wealth of Minnesota, and the
rapidly developing regions of northern Iowa and Dakota. By
its'southwestern branch, to be finished early the coming summer,
we shall have direct and rapid communication with southern and
western Iowa, western Missouri, Kansas, and the regions beyond,
from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico. All these
immense regions are rapidly filling up with an intelligent and
enterprising population; requiring vast supplies of agricultural
implements and manufactured goods, which, as we expect to
show conclusively, can be manufactured here more cheaply, and
distributed more readily and economically than from any other
point. The Chicago, Alton & St. Louis railroad, by its main
line, its branches and connections, open up to us a highway to
the regions south and southwest; bringing to our doors the cot-
ton of the gulf states; the iron and other minerals of Missouri,
with its hemp, its flour and grain ; the fruits and cereals of what
was once our own Egypt, Egypt no longer; and opening up
in all those rapidly developing regions a market for our own pro-
ductions ; and for our manufactured goods, as fast as we are able
to supply the rapidly increasing demands.
By the Joliet branch of the Michigan Central (Joliet Cut-
Off), we have a direct communication with the east, including
not only Xew York, and the Middle States, but New England
and Canada; and with the lumber regions of Indiana, Michigan,
and the Canadian provinces. And it is worthy of notice, that
grain, cattle, pork, and indeed all our western productions, are
shipped from this place to all points on the Atlantio seaboard
from Baltimore to Quebec at the same rate paid from Chicago.
And goods from all the eastern sources of supply are laid down
in our depots in the same time, and on the same terms as goods
destined to our magnificent neighbor on the north.
Our two railroads connecting us with Chicago the Chicago
Rock Island & Pacific, and the Chicago, Alton & St. Louis,
give us almost hourly connections with that great city of the
West. Fourteen passenger, and twenty freight trains, like vast
shuttles, daily alternate between the two cities, filling up the web
of western business with the plastic woof of enterprise. The
lumber and iron of Michigan and Wisconsin ; the copper of
Lake Superior, and the coals of Pennsylvnaia, are laid down at
our doors, at a rate of freight so low as to make scarcely
1*
10 JOLIET : ITS RESOURCES
a perceptible difference in their cost. And by way of Chicago
we hnve additional connections with all the business centers of
the eastern seaboard and interior, and on the most favorable
terms as competition with the Cut-Off compels all roads to
ship freights to Joliet at the same rates charged to Chicago.
The new Joliet & Aurora Railroad already surveyed and to
be built as soon as the spring opens, short as it is, will undoubt-
edly form one of the most important links in our various railroad
connections. By it, the stone, lime, coal, etc., so much needed
in that direction, can be delivered to them at a mere fraction of
the expense as via Chicago; and must draw largely upon our
abundant supplies of those materials.
The vast shipments of grain, cattle, etc., from the teeming
southwest, over the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad,
instead of paying tribute to the elevators and Stock Yards of
Chicago, will be brought here, and shipped east, by the Joliet
Cut-Off, and other roads, which will soon be needed to take the
produce offering at this point, to the markets of the East. It is
understood that one of our most important trunk lines has
recently made arrangements for building a branch road from
some point in or near this city, to the Wilmington coal fields.
This will open up another avenue to the cheap fuel so abundant
on our southern border ; and tend greatly to the development of
our resources as a manufacturing city.
There are many other indirect connections with finished
lines, as well as new roads contemplated, to which space will
not permit us to refer ; but we think enough has already been
said to establish our claim to the possession of railroad advan-
tages equaled by few of the most favored cities of the land.
AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES.
BY JUI>OK RANDALL, OF JOLIET.
The agricultural resources of the region immediately sur.
rounding the city, although in many respects similar to the wide
prairies throughout the valley of the Mississippi, are in other
respects, greatly superior. They consist, first, in a broken, irreg-
ular surface; giving romantic variety, innumerable springs,
limpid brooks, and other sources of the purest water, in great
abundance. This condition is not confined to this city, but the
county of Will, and the surrounding counties of Cook,Du Page,
Kendall, Urundy, Livingston, and Kankakee, all partake, in a
AND ADVANTAGES. 11
large degree, of the characteristics just mentioned. A glance at
the map shows that nearly the entire surface of these counties
is drained toward this city.
The Kankakee, the Des Plaines, and the DuPage rivers, all
meandering through a wide scope of fertile country, unite their
forces within the limits of this county, a few miles below the
limits of this city, and form the majestic Illinois, which carries
these sparkling waters downward to the " Father of Waters."
Manifestly, the valley of all these three great rivers must be
unsurpassed in fertility ; and the natural law which induces pro-
ductions to flow down the rivers in whose valleys they are- raised,
points to this as the great basin in which those productions
intermingle, and seek their destination to the markets of the
world.
Our agricultural productions, then-, may be said to be as
wide and varied as these fertile and extensive valleys. The
great staple is corn. It is grown in quantities vastly beyond
the wants of tire population; and thousands of cars are freighted
for distant markets. Wheat, rye, oats, and barley are produced
in large quantity, but here, at least, "Corn is King." It goes
to market in bulk. It is done up in lard and beef-steak, and-
rolls away in the fumes of whisky. It is so natural to the soil
and climate, that innumerable fields may be found in Illinois
where more than thirty successive crops have been raised without
manure, and without perceptible diminution. This corn, and
the beef and pork fattened with it, constitute a very large por-
tion of our railroad freights.
We have in this immediate locality, not only the exceeding
natural fertility of the soil, but also fertilizers in inexhaustible
quantities. The salurian rock on which our city is founded,
lying beside our coal fields, contains the lime requisite to ferti
lize for centuries. Inexhaustible beds of marl are laid away in
the great conservatory of nature, ready to leap forth at the call
of the husbandman.
The Rocky Mountains and the distant plains of Texas send
us immense numbers of animals; and all concentrating here,
add to our local power of fruitification. The centers of com-
merce always furnish by unavoidable waste, large quantities of
fertilizing ingredients. The importance of these will be seen
when it is reeolleted that our city is in the thoroughfare of the
Pacific trade, and at the point of the crossing of the commerce
between the Mississippi and the Lakes.
12 JOLIET: ITS RESOURCES
It is believed that very few locations can be found possess-
ing so large advantages to the husbandman as the valleys of
these rivers ; and that a very dense population is inevitable.
The day of large corn-fields and wheat-fields has undoubtedly
passed away, in this section, and smaller divisions become a
necessity. No location can be found better adapted to dairy
purposes. The pure water, and the large amount of moist land,
susceptible of easy drainage, make the grasses luxuriant, and the
eye rests almost constantly upon localities suggestive of cheese
factories; while the great prairies west of us are daily putting
up their supplications to furnish them with such luxuries. It is
not our purpose in this short article to go into particulars; but
by this general description to call the attention of all husband-
men who desire to find locations, to this section, as offering
inducements of more than an ordinary character.
STONE.
BY IIOX. \V. A. STEEL, OF JOLIET.
It will not be deemed inappropriate in a pamphlet pre-
pared to set forth some of the natural advantages of Joliet, that
special mention should be made of the item which heads this
article.
In the construction of manufactories, business blocks,
foundations for residences, or residences themselves, it is import-
ant to know that stone of good quality is near at hand, and can
be obtained at moderate cost. Joliet possesses this feature in a
pre-eminent degree.
Within the city limits, and lying adjacent thereto, in every
direction, are quarries, developed and inexhaustible, of the
finest stone ever yet discovered within a distance of seven hun-
dred miles north, south, east, or any where west of this point.
The stone is white in color, and is magnesian limestone of the
best quality, weighing from one hundred and sixty to one hun-
dred and eighty pounds per cubic foot.
Throughout the northwestern states it is called " Joliet
marble," for it accepts any character of finish, ( even the finest,)
and is used largely for monumental and the other higher grades
of work.
These quarries are all stratified. The strata ranging from
two inches thick up to forty-two inches. This natural arrange-
ment enables owners of quarries to produce the material for use
at a comparatively small cost.
AND ADVANTAGES. 13
The prices of stone at Joliet are, as near as may be, as
follows : Rubble, the article chiefly used in constructing manu-
factories, shops, foundations, etc., five dollars per cord. Dimen-
sion stone varies from twenty cents to fifty-one cents per cubic
foot, according to grade.
The amount shipped from here by railroads and canal during
the year 1870, reached about one million one hundred and
twenty-five thousand cubic feet (or about twelve thousand car
loads) ; and the demand indicates that this quantity will be
increased annually.
In the spring of 1867, the United States government, in
view of the erection of extensive government buildings in the
western states, ordered that a board of scientific officers should
proceed to ascertain minutely the properties of Joliet stone;
applying to it all the tests which science has discovered for
such purposes. The buildings to be erected were intended to
stand for all time ; and hence the government went to consider-
able expense in procuring machinery, and otherwise, to make the
tests, so that there might be no mistake as to finding the best
stone in the western states. The board performed the work, and
we insert the official report.
First. As to the properties of Joliet stone
Density 2.6440
Crushing force in pounds 58853
Crushing force in pounds per square inch 14708
Began to spawl 5 7 833
Breaking weight to transverse strain 15850
Transverse strength S.= _?^- =248to320
4 B.13- S3
Tranverse sample, 4 in. xj8 in. x 20 in., and
Crushing sample 2 in. x 2 in. x 4 inches.
Second. To ascertain the absorptive properties of the
stone, the samples were placed on the boiler of a steam engine,
in motion, and remained there sixteen days. They were then
weighed, and placed in water, where they remained three days
and nights, and were again weighed, with the result given below.
/Sample, No. 1.
GRAINS.
Weight before steeping 8211.8
" after " 6382.
Increase in Weight 170.2
Increase per cent , 2.78
14 .FOLIET: ITS RESOURCES
Sample, No. 2. <; RAINS.
Weight before steeping 5640.5
" after " ..5800.
Increase in weight 159.5
Increase per cent 2.8
The superior quality of Joliet stone had never been
doubted, but the foregoing results established incontrovertibly
that no stone yet discovered in the western states could cope
with it. This truth is further proved by the fact that Iowa,
Missouri, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, and perhaps other states,
are ordering heavily from these quarries. Reference may be
made to the customhouse atDes Moines, Iowa (three hundred and
iifty-seven miles, from Joliet); to the custom house at Madison,
Wisconsin ( one hundred and thirty-eight miles from Joliet);
to the new county buildings erected at St. Louis (two hundred
and forty miles from Joliet) ; to the extensive U. S. arsenal build-
ings on Rock Island, in the Mississippi River; to two bridges
built by government, to connect said arsenal at different points
to the eastern shore; to a bridge connecting Illinois and Iowa at
Dubuque ; to the United States marine hospital at Chicago ; to
the new Penitentiary just completed, in Indiana; to the stone
portion of the national Lincoln monument at Springfield, Illi-
nois ; the magnificent State Capitol of Illinois, now being con-
structed; and to innumerable court houses and jails, built in
this and other states.
There are at work in the quarries thus far opened here, from
five hundred and fifty to seven hundred and fifty men. The
demand is still increasing; and it is beyond doubt that still
other quarries must be opened.
It is worth mentioning, in this connection, that large parcels
of vacant ground upon which manufactories must shortly be
erected, both within the city limits, and immediately adjoining,
will require no excavation for foundations. They afford a solid
stone foundation within a few inches of the surface. These lands
too, are near the water-power, canal, and railroads.
COAL AND IRON.
BY I. R. ADAMS, ESQ., OF JOLIET.
Near Joliet, and in this county, are the finest coal fields in Illi-
nois, underlying thousands of acres of rich farming lands, aiid
producing over five hundred thousand tons per annum-
AND ADVANTAGES. 15
There are ten shafts now opened, and many more are being
located, in order to supply the demand for this favorite fuel which is
unsurpassed for steam and grate purposes, it having a long and clear
flame. "With the abundant shipping facilities, it can be delivered here
at a figure but little above the cost of mining, giving us a cheap
steam which is material to the successful operation of manufacturers.
This coal is what is termed by geologists No. 2 coal, being the
same strata that is found in the Big Muddy and Chester fields, and
has a less amount of ash, (only 3 per cent.) than most bituminous
coals found in Pennsylvania, giving it so much more combustible
material, and specially adapting it for the working of iron.
The analysis made by Prof. Seibel, shows :
Carbon 81-10")
Hydrogin 57
Xitro and Oxygin 9-7 I Coke, 60 per cent.
Sulphur -3
Water ioo-Sj
The analysis compares with the best English bituminous coal.
During the past year, a large rolling mill compared with any in the
country for architecture and general plan, commenced working with-
in our limits. Its Avails are built of the same stone on which our
city rests, and which forms the solid foundation for its ponderous
machinery.
The works are in successful operation, turning out over one
hundred tons of railroad iron daily, and so well are the proprietors
convinced of the value of the coal, and the importance of Joliet as a
distributive point, so essential to manufacturers, that they are making
plans, and will probably commence work early in the spring on an
immense Bessemer steel works, to cost not less than three hundred
thousand dollars, and vrill employ one hundred men in addition to
the three hundred men now at work.
There is but little doubt that a good coke can be made from our
coal, as the analysis before mentioned shows the coke to be sixty per
cent., giving us a cheap fuel for foundry purposes.
The largest foundries in Chicago are getting their moulding sand
from here.
The railroad connections, the low taxes, cheap building mater-
ials, and advantages above named have already called 0119 stove
manufactory here, and a visit will show to others, that soon we will
be able to drive the Kastcrn foundries, who are now manufacturing
for the "Western trade, from the field of competition, as Lake
.Superior pig iron is as cheap here as in Buffalo, and the freight* and
their profits can be pocketed by our fortunate stove founder.
1 6 JOLIET : ITS EESOTJECES
Not only to rolling mills and foundries has Joliot the advantages
above named, but to any person looking for a new field of industrial
enterprise, a close investigation will show that for other bi-anches of
manufactories there is the same auspicious opening. All we ask is
an impartial investigation to insure a verdict hi our favor.
SMELTING ORES.
BY SAMUEL B. EEED, ESQ., OF JOLIET, ENGINEER OF THE GEEAT
UNION PACIFIC EAILEOAD.
The geographical position of Joliet is admirably adapted to the
successful working of the reduction of ores, being on the direct line
east from San Francisco, via Pacific Railroad, and from Colorado
and all the rich mineral country west and southwest, tributary to the
Kansas Pacific Railroad which will soon be completed from Denver,
west to the Pacific Ocean.
These roads pass through, and are contiguous to, large areas of
rich silver mining country, whose products must find a market in the
East. It is impracticable to reduce the oars successfully in the
mountains, owing to the great cost of transporting and putting in
operation the necessary machinery the great scarcity and cost of
fuel in the mining districts the absence and cost of iron for desul-
phurating the ores with economy the great cost of subsistence and
tools for men and teams, and the high price of labor.
There is no location in the country that possesses superior, if as
good, inducements as this, for capitalists to invest in mills and furna-
ces for the reduction of the rich silver ores that are now being shipped
from the various mining districts in the Rocky Mountain country,
contiguous to the line of the Central and Union Pacific Railroads to
c5
the Atlantic sea-board, and thence to Swansey, in Wales for reduction.
Joliet has an abundance of water-power for driving the neces-
sary machinery. Also, fuel, admir ably adapted to smelting ores of
that nature, in inexhaustible quantities within a few miles, which is
being mined and shipped to market extensively by canal and rail.
Iron filings and old scrap iron at nominal rates for de sulphurating the
ores with economy, cheap and abundant labor, and situated in the
midst of a rich agricultural country, subsistance of all kinds will
always be obtained at the lowest rates. Even if the ores were
reduced in the mountains where mined, the lead and copper which is
thirty to seventy per cent, will be lost, because it will not pay trans-
portation to market. If reduced here, it will be valuable, and greatly
increase the net proceeds of the ores. There are not mills enough
on this contuient to reduce the ores as fast as they are now being
AND ADVANTAGES. 17
mined. (And the mining business is in its infancy yet ). Conse-
quently, large shipments are continually passing through Joliet, on
the way to Swansey, in Wales, for reduction. If mills for smelting
ores and separating the silver and gold from the baser metals, were
in successful operation in Joliet, no matter how great their capacity,
they would be crowded to their utmost extent.
BUILDING MATERIALS.
LIME, BKICK, SAXD, STONE, AXD LUMBER.
These articles comprise the raw material, and chief expense in
the construction of buildings, and the enlargement of cities. When
found upon the localities where used, the expense in building is
much less than when such heavy materials are transported from
other points on wagons, cars, or boats.
Two of these, viz. : Lime and stone of prim quality, exist in
great abundance within the city limits of Joliet. A like abundant
supply of superior building sand, and clay for brick, are found within
a mile. While lumber is merely a fraction above Chicago prices,
and is actually below the quotations in New England, and the state of
New York. The reason of this seems apparent when we reflect that
the pineries of Michigan and Wisconsin float their treasures of the
forest directly to our doors, upon river, lake, and canal craft. There-
fore, we confidently claim for Joliet a precedence over every other
locality that can be named, either east or west, for its abundant and
cheap supply of raw materials for building purposes. For its abun-
dance, because there are no limits to the supply. And for cheapness,
because these supplies are found at our very doors, thus saving the
great expense of transporting them, either by rail, by water, or upon
wagons. Hence this is the place of cheap homes for the laborer,
the artisan, and the mechanic. Of cheap blocks for businessmen;
of cheap manufacturing establishments; and for the founding of all
diversified industrial enterprises. In short, : the most promising
field for co-operative labor and capital to achieve a complete successl
Joliet holds out a cordial welcome to all of these classes, te
whom we can supply the "sinews" for building, at a trifle above first
cost prices, and yet have enough left to export for the building rip of
surrounding cities. For a knowledge of our other advantages we
refer to the various articles found in this pamphlet.
CEMENT GRAVEL.
Three or four extensive deposits of this material are found at
Joliet, and more may yet be discovered. The qualities of this gravel
2
18 JOLIET: ITS BESOUBCES
are unlike, and superior to, those of any other gravel deposits known
in the country. It is true, that water lime, and the ordinary cement
of commerce are found in many places.
It is equally true, that there are numerous deposits of free
gravel to be found in some states. The one is cement by itself, and
the other gravel by itself. But here these substances, or their
properties, are happily blended in one mixture known as the Joliet
Cement Gravel.
It is similar in appearance to ordinary gravel, being readily
removed by the pick and shovel. But there is diffused through the
mass a subtle mixture of cement ingredients, which gradually
hardens into one solid compact substance when exposed to the action
of the sun, air, rain, and travel. Hence its great value for grading
streets, drains, avenues, walks, etc.
About thirty miles of streets in Joliet are graded with it, afford-
ing some of the best drives any where to be found. Many streets in
Chicago, Riverside, and other suburban towns of that city, are using
the same material. Even Bloomington, Springfield, and Alton have
sent orders for it.
The entire shipments of 1870, foot up in value about $200,000,
and the demand is rapidly extending. To work these mines of
wealth, affords employment to many laboring men, and adds not a
little to the revenues of our railroads. Fortunately the supply in
ample for many years to come.
ARTESIAN WELLS AND WATER SUPPLY.
Artesian wells are obtained by appliances for boring into the
outside crust of the earth, and bringing to the surface those liquid
treasures that the God of nature had long since stored up in their
deep, dark, vast recesses preparatory for the use of man. At Syracuse
and Saginaw, the product is brine, affording salt to supply a nation's
wants.
At Spring Lake and other Michigan localities it is mineral
water, strongly impregnated with medicinal properties for the " heal-
ing" of the people.
At Chicago, Jolirrt, and most other points, it is common water
for domestic use. We have four of these wells; one at the prison,
one at the rolling mills, one at the tank of C., A. <fe St. Louis rail-
road, and one at the public square. The volume of water they dis-
charge is immense. The one last named, throws up from a depth of
four hundred and fifty feet, through a 4-inch bore, a column of water
sixty feet into the air, at the rate of three hundred gallons per
AND ADVANTAGES. 19
minute; or about fifteen thousand barrels daily. It is soft, clear,
pure, and bright as ever sparkled in the sunlight. It washes equally
as well as rain-water, without a particle of the flat or insipid taste
attached to the latter; and proves especially valuable in the prep-
aration of dyes for coloring clothes, etc. In short, no better water
ever gushed from its crystal fountain ; and these wells could be mul-
tiplied, if necessary, to supply the wants of one hundred thousand
people. Moreover, all that portion of the city between Eastern Ave-
nue and Spring Creek is on a broad platteau, or plain, of gravel
deposit, affording at a depth of fifteen to eighteen feet, never-failing
wells of the purest water. Therefore, we claim for Joliet an ample
supply almost as cheap and free as the air we breathe of that
genuine Elixir of Life, viz. : Pure cold water !
HEALTH.
Having a river fall of thirty feet, within our city limits, affording
no chance for sluggish streams ; being also founded upon limestone
rock and gravel beds ; with an ample supply of as pure water as the
earth affords, Joliet could not fail to be a healthy city. Such is the
verdict of our physicians, and of the people. And such, too, is the
verdict of Mr. Gooding, of Lockport, our worthy state engineer, who
declares this whole region as healthy as the most favored New
England hills. True, we are subject to sudden changes of tempera-
ture; but no more sudden or extreme than most other portions of our
country experience. Billions complaints, with fever and ague, are
now scarcely known. Consumptives are rarely found. "We have
some chill-fevers, and rheumatic invalids, as well as old chronic dis-
orders mostly importations into the country.
In conclusion, those who adapt their clothing to the climatic
changes, and practice common-sense habits of life, need not be sick ;
and may enjoy as " green old age " here, as in any part of the world.
CHEAP LOCATIONS.
Compared to its wealth, business, population, and great resources,
it is safe to say that no other city, east or west, offers such cheap
locations for homes; shops and factories, as Joliet. Within the city
limits are hundreds of these locations, ranging from eighty to five
hundred dollars per acre. One-fourth of an acre will afford a poor
man a location for his cottage. This, at the first-named figures, will
cost him but twenty dollars, and at the latter price, one hundred and
thirty-seven dollars. I know of a shoveler in the gravel-pit, who
20 JOLIET: ITS RESOURCES
has saved out of his earnings in 1870, enough money to pay for his
lot and the building of a cottage home upon it. Within a radius of
two miles from the court house are hundreds of acres, and thousands
of locations, ranging all the way between the above-named figures.
Many of these arc unsurpassed as sites for beautiful homes. Of
course, these statements do not apply to the business centers of the
city.
For fuller information concerning cheap locations, address
Geo. II. Ward, Macomber & Elwood, or E. T. Chase, real estate
dealers, Joliet.
SURROUNDINGS.
We make no pretensions to the picturesque scenery of the Pali-
sades; or the magnificent grandeur of the Mississippi bluffs. But
while we fail in soaring to the regions of the sublime, we do claim to
revel amid scenes of the beautiful.
Joliet is encircled with an amphitheater of noble hills that rise
and fall in gracefully moulded swells, like grand ocean billows,
whose crested tops wave with groves of Elysian beauty, like so
many plumed helmets of Genii of the forest, looking down into the
valley upon our shining river and bustling city. This panoramic
out-line of noble hills is interspersed and beautified by gentler undu-
lating elevations ; with shady nooks and dells, and grassy dales of
bewitching loveliness. Traverse these surroundings when attired in
their fresh, bright robes of spring-time beauty; or when decked with
the variegated and gorgeous hues of autumnal splendor, and that
beholder has neither poetry nor music in his soul has little love of
Nature, or of " Nature's God," who is not moved to rapturous
delight and adoration ! We close with the prediction that the time
is coming when one hundred thousand denizens shall people this city ;
and when these pleasant surroundings shall be all gemmed over
with the abodes of the opulent and the refined.
MOULDING SAND.
Adjoining us, and in our town, are valuable beds of moulding
sand ; fine in quality, and suitable for all styles of castings. It can
be delivered in the city at a cost not exceeding ten York shillings
per ton, and in quantities inexhaustible.
About fifty boat loads are annually shipped to Chicago and St.
Louis being about fifty thousand tons.
AND ADVANTAGES.
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22 JOLIET: ITS RESOURCES
DISTRIBUTIVE CENTER.
All manufacturers desire the best and cheapest facilities for
shipping their wares in every direction. Joliet has more direct rail-
road connections east and west than any other competing city. Of
course, no place assumes to equal Chicago in the number of its con-
nections, although we beat her in straight lines. We also possess
more diverging connections than any place of similar size. And
moreover, by means of our suburban proximity to Chicago, we
virtually enjoy the immense net- work of railroad connections for
shipping purposes that center in that great city. To all this, we add
cheap water transportation by cana*. and river.
Those desiring fuller information on this subject are referred to
the article in this pamphlet, headed " Railroads," by Hon. H. N.
Marsh. Therefore, we assume that there is no more eligible point
than Joliet for the reception and distribution of goods from and too
all other points of the country.
CHURCHES Al . SCHOOLS.
There are eleven churches in Joliet pretty well divided among
the various denominations, and well supported. We append the
following statement politely furnished by the Rev. C. A. Gilbert :
Central Presbyterian Rev. H. D. Jenkins,
First Presbyterian " C. R. Burdick,
First Baptist " A. G. Eberhardt,
Christ Episcopal " C. A. Gilbert,
St. John's Universalist " C. H. Button,
Methodist Episcopal " F. P. Cleveland,
First Evangelical Lutheran " C. Sans,
St. Peter's Lutheran " H. Rohe,
St. Mary's Roman Catholic " P. W. Riordan,
St. Patrick's Roman Catholic " W. H. Powers,
St. John's Roman Catholic " F. H. Nolte.
Total No. of Members 3,771
Total No. of Families 1,252
Total No. of Sittings 4,606
TotalNo. of Pews 1,042
CONTENTS.
St. Thomas ( six Sisters) $ 6,000
St. Theresa (seven Sisters) 15,000
Total value of Churches and Convents 200,600
AND ADVANTAGES. 23
The schools of Joliet share, in equal measure, the same liberal
support and public spirit of our citizens as do the churches. Pupils
are passed from the primary to the higher schools, where they are
advanced to the second year, in a college course. In addition to the
public schools we have a commercial college, two convent, and one
or two select schools. The following is a brief summary:
Public schools 6
Teachers 27
Pupils 2,000
Yearly expenses $ 13,000
Value School property 75,000
Student's Com. College 100
Convent schools 2
Teachers .... , 13
Pupils 400
Value property $21 ,000
Total Schools 10
Total Teachers 41
Total Pupils 2,500
Total value Property $96,000
FAIR GROUNDS.
The agricultural fair grounds, lying about two miles north of
Joliet, on the Lockport road, consisting of forty acres, are pleasantly
located, and handsomely improved. But last season some new fair
grounds were secured, lying only one-half mile east of the city limits,
that are intended ultimately to be thrown open as a city park, when
not occupied for fair purposes. These grounds comprise sixty-five
acres, and are universally conceded to be the most beautiful and con-
venient fair grounds in the state. They were purchased at a cost of
ten thousand dollars, and six thousand dollars more have already been
expended in improving the same.
They are inclosed by a tight pine lumber fence seven feet high ;
contain one hundred and ten stalls for horses and cattle ; eighty pens
for hogs and sheep, and a large, elegant and substantial hall for the
exhibition of fine arts, inventions, products, etc. Three beautiful
springs of pure water within the grounds afford an ample supply for
five thousand people, and one thousand head of stock.
A charming diversity of hill, dale, and meadow-land, inter-
spersed with groves of young timber, and some old monarchs of the
forest, render these fair grounds genuine Elysian fields for the poet,
the artist, and the lover of nature. A graded drive, and other import-
ant improvements are being made the present season, at a further
outlay of five thousand dollars, thus adding the embellishments of
art toward beautifying yet further one of the loveliest spots of earth.
At the first fair held last fall, being a month too late for such
occasions, there were one thousand one hundred and eighteen entries,
and nearly twenty-five hundred dollars taken at the gate.
JOLIET: ITS RESOUKCES
SOLID FOUNDATIONS.
It is claimed that the rock foundation of the Joliet Rolling Mills
saved twenty-five thousand dollars to the company. There are hun-
dreds of acres of contiguous land with the same solid foundation,
exactly adapted to the location of all kinds of manufacturing estab-
lishments. These lands border upon the canal and railroad, render-
ing the shipment of raw materials and manufactured wares easy,
cheap, and convenient.
Let all classes consider that such works at Joliet are "founded
upon the rock." That they enjoy unsurpassed facilities for ship-
ment; and, that as a distributive center we believe no other locality
outside of Chicago is our equal.
CEMETERIES.
The interest taken in that last resting place of all that is earthly
of ourselves and our friends, evinces the true sentiment of commu-
nity
"Man's home is in the grave,
Here dwell the multitude we gaze around ;
We read the monuments we sigh, and while
We sigh, we sink."
There are several fine cemeteries near our city. One of these
the most spacious and beautiful is known as " Oak wood Ceme-
tery," lying just east of the city limits. In the year 1856 a special
act of incorporation was obtained of our State Legislature, for its
complete management, improvement, and preservation ; since which
time it has continued to be adorned and beautified ; while much
enduring and costly monumental stone and marble work has been
placed there. Several of these incurred an expense of from five
to ten thousand dollars; and others but little less.
In the center of these grounds stands an old Indian mound an
object of much interest. There may the visitor, when the wild red
men have disappeared from our continent, gaze upon the spot where
rests their mouldering dust ; and call up with memories of the past,
visions of the painted warrior.
Oakwood, too, is classic ground. Many traditionary legends are
associated with the spot ; and persons are now living who have
heard them from the lips of the Indians, who once stood on this soil,
but are now sleeping their last sleep beneath that mound. But
dearer to the gaze are the consecrated grounds of our heroic dead
who laid down their lives that our country might live.
AND ADVANTAGES. 25
LOCAL INSTITUTION'S.
BANKS. There are three banks in the city, affording every
desired facility for doing business in their line. All three are
conducted by gentlemen of high character and great experience,
who have long enjoyed the entire confidence of our business
men.
BUILDINGS ERECTED AND IMPROVEMENTS MADE IN 1870. The
table of statistics furnished by our builders is unfortunately lost.
There were a large number of new buildings erected, some of
them costly and elegant. Many others were enlarged and im-
proved. Including the rolling-mills, the enlarged Cut-OIF depot,
new convent, school houses, etc., the aggregate amount foots up
in round numbers not- less than $550,000.
BREWERIES. Our revenue collector, Col. Hammond, reports
four of these establishments, as follows :
E. Porter, Ale, 4,434
A. Scheldt, Ale & Beer,... 2,0ll
F. Sehring, Beer, 1,282
Belz Bros., Ale & Beer,... 409
Total bbls. brewed, 8,136
Most of this is shipped to other markets.
COMMERCIAL COLLEGE. The commercial college, under the
energetic and efficient management of Prof! Russell, is a credit to
our city. 'It combines the practical and academic elements of
education, and fills the want that has long been felt by our
citizens. This institution has been in successful operation
about five years, and is still rapidly increasing in members and
importance. One hundred and six students arc now in atten-
dance from Joliet and vicinity, which is a strong indorsement of
the public appreciation.
EXPRESS. The express business is large and increasing^
Amount of goods received in 1870 :
Aggregate, $10,829.32
On goods forwarded, 8,776.10
Total in and out business, $19,605.42
GAS WORKS. The gas works of the city were erected at a
cost of fifty-five thousand dollars, and connect with all
the business, and most of the residence portion of the place.
Their present capacity will supply thirty thousand inhabitants.
They now consume not less than fifteen hundred tons of coal
annually.
2*
26 JOLIET: ITS RESOURCES
GRADED STREETS. Our city has thirty-one miles of streets,
beautifully graded with cement gravel, taken from the famous
beds of that material, near at hand. These smooth, durable, and
substantial thoroughfares are the constant theme of admiration
to strangers, and congratulation to residents. The action of
the weather and results of use hardens and solidifies this gravel,
forming a pavement, at all times dry and even, .naking a street
comparing favorably with, and rivaling even the granite, Russ,
and other block pavements.
HOTELS. There are some half-dozen hotels, ranging from
good to indifferent. The Auburn House, by F. Smiley, and the
Delevan House, by G. B. Mosey, are deservedly popular. But
the only first-class house is the National, kept by that prince
among landlords, W. B. Caswell, Esq. Our progressive city
will soon demand, a hotel of more magnificent proportions than
any of these, and our citizens are already agitating the "ways
and means" of consumating this desirable result.
HAY PRESS. Niles' hay press has a capacity for bailing and
shipping twenty-five hundred tons yearly. This hay finds a
market at St. Louis, New Orleans, Boston, and New York. Our
surplus home supplies meet a ready sale at the press, while the
labor of storage, bailing and shipping affords employment to a
goodly number of men.
INSURANCE. There are eight insurance agencies in Joliet,
whose annual receipts for premiums, range from one thousand
to twelve thousand dollars each. The aggregate amount receipts
of all the offices is between fifty thousand and sixty thousand
dollars.
INTERNAL REVENUE. An examination of the books in the
office of Col. C. M. Hammond, internal revenue collector, in the
city of Joliet, shows that the collections for the six months,
ending January 1st, 1871, are as follows:
July, $31,919.64
August, 16,587.41
September, 12,279.95
October, 19,118.23
November, 21,218.55
December, 26,833.62
TOTAL $127,957.40
Double this for year, is $255,914.80
AND ADVANTAGES. 27
ICE. Our spacious river basins annually supply us with
overflowing ice-houses, of the purest article. Total amount
gathered is about four thousand tons, mostly by Mr. LaFontaine,
who supplies the citizens at such low figures that all can afford
to " keep cool."
LUMBEU. The lumber trade of Joliet is mainly confined to
four different yards. The amount of yearly sales is from two
hundred and fifty thousand dollars to three hundred thousand
dollars. Prices have ranged for some years as follows:
Common pine, per M Si 4 to 16
Clear pine, per M S,"0 to $50
An ample supply of white-wood and hard-wood lumber at
reasonable prices i.s also shipped to our Joliet market, from
the Indiana and Michigan forests, that are near at hand.
NEWS PAPERS. There ar two weekly newspapers published
in Joliet. The Joliet Republican, by James Goodspeed, and
the Joliet Signal, Democratic, by C. & C. Zarley. Both are con-
ducted with ability and commendable enterprise. A great
amount of job work is done at both offices, as well as at the
jobbing office of Gritzner & Henderson. We are too near
Chicago to warrant a daily publication.
POST OFFICE. Statement of business done during the
quarter ending December 21st, 1870:
Amt. of orders iss'd...$13,392.83
Anat. of orders paid... 7,999.94
Amt. stamps, stamped
envelopes sold 2,605.03
No. mail letters rec'd. . 101,831
No. money orders iss'd 813
No. money orders paid, 439
TELEGRAPH. Beside the three railroad depot telegraph
stations, there are two other offices in Joliet. The aggregate
business of these two offices in receipts is about thirty-five
hundred dollars.
MANUFACTORIES.
THE JOLIET MANUFACTURING Co. (Incorporated), manu-
factures corn-shellers, reapers, mowers, and plows.
Capital stock, $250,000
Act of incorporation allows increase to 500,000
Stock sold, 280,000
Amount of sales in 1870, 100,000
No. of men employed, - . . 50
28 JOLIET: ITS RESOURCES
It is safe to double this amount in the implement business
done at Joliet, yearly, as Mr. Sanger's establishment approxi-
mates these figures, of which no returns have been received.
Moreover, there are other lighter establishments, besides five or
six vendors of implements.
WOOLLEN FACTORY. The paid up capital stock in this
factory is 36,000
No. of looms, 13
No. spindles, 870
No. sets of curds, 3
Manufactures every description of woollen goods, and has a
capacity of four hundred yards of cloth daily. The goods pro-
duced are unsurpassed in quality.
It gives employment to thirty or forty hands, and is run by
either steam or water-power.
FLOURING MILLS. Hyde's Joliet Mill and Elevator is a
substantial stone structure, forty-one by one hundred and forty
feet, and three stories high. It has six run of stone, four feet
burrs, capable of flouring three hundred barrels, daily. The
capacity for storage is five hundred thousand bushels. Water-
fall, ten feet. Capital, fifty thousand dollars.
The City Mills, of Adam & Wilcox, have five run of stone,
with a capacity of flouring two hundred barrels, daily. This and
the Hyde mill are not surpassed in their fixtures or quality of
work. Capital, forty thousand dollars. The extensive mill and
warehouse of H, S. Carpenter, was totally burned down, and has
not been rebuilt. We have one saw-mill at the lower dam.
PLAINING MILLS. There are three plaining mills, and a
fourth is to be erected.
No. of feet dressed yearly, 1,000,000
Capacity to dress, 4,000,000
Furnish employment to men, 30
SASH AND BLINDS. Two of these factories are in operation,
with facilities for attaching one to each plaining mill. Amount
of work done yearly :
Sash, for No. windows 6,000
Blinds, " 5,000
Doors made, 4,000
Capacity double this amount. Men employed, 12 to 15
ATD ADVANTAGES. 29
JOLIET MOUND WORKS. Mount Joliet, as it is put down upcn
the maps, lies two miles below the city. It does not equal in value
the Iron Mountain of Missouri, and yet it is a rare deposit of rich
and varied materials. It contains an immense amount of cement
gravel and of various clays and other materials required for pottery,
stone-ware, tile, fire-brick, and bath, or polishing brick.
We give some statistics for the past year, 1STO:
Stone Ware Sewer "Pipe, feet, 150,000
Drain Tile, feet, 800,000
Fire Brick, number, 200,000
Bath Brick, for polishing, 150,000
Tons of coal consumed, ' 2,000
Tons of clay consumed, 6,000
Number of men employed, 40
Amount of sales, from $65,000 to $75,000
Capacity of the works, double the above. Quality of the wares
equal to any, whether of American or foreign production.
TANNERY. Mack, Cleghorn & Go's., tannery is a spacious
building, with all the usual appliances for running such establish-
ments :
Capital invested, $45,000
Aggregate yearly wages, 14,900
Yearly capacity for tanning hides, 15,000
Cords of bark used in the same time, 700
Men employed, 20
BRICK AND BRICK MACHINES. There are two yards a little
beyond the city limits. They supply the market with a good
article, varying in quality, from four to ten dollars per thousand.
Shreffler's champion brick machine, which is extensively made
here, is among the most useful labor-saving inventions of the
age. While simple and cheap, it has capacity for making ten
thousand to twenty thousand good brick daily. At six state
fairs it has been awarded the first premium.
Their growing popularity is attested by the increased
demand for them in all directions.
CAGWIN'S ROTARY PLOW. Among the implements manu-
factured at the establishment of Sangcr & Co., is the Rotary
Plow, recently invented and patented by our townsman, F. L.
Cagwin, Esq., which bids fair to effect the same revolution in the
plow-field, that the reaper has done in the harvest-field.
30 JOLIET t ITS RESOURCES
Though but just introduced, it has been sufficiently tested
to prove that it must soon take rank among the most important
inventions of the age destined to command a speedy and exten-
sive manufacture and sale. Experience among our farmers the
last two seasons has fully proven that it will add from twenty-
five to fifty per cent, to the productiveness of land tilled by this
machine, over that tilled by the ordinary methods. And this,
too, with no little saving of time, of team, and of manual labor.
While it is no part of our object to puff any of our manufacto-
ries, we deem it no deviation from our plan to hold out this as a
prominent inducement to our agricultural friends to locate where
alone, for some years at least, these valuable machines can be
obtained.
MARKETS.
GRAIN. The local shipment of grain was light in 1870,
owing to prevailing light crops. This exhibit is for the year
ending August 1st:
Corn by railroad bushels, 2,300,000
" " canal " 276,463
Oats " railroad " 400,000
" " canal ' 137,435
Barley and Wheat, " 12,000
TOTAL BUSHELS, 3,125,898
DRESSED HOGS. By railroad, 58 cars, 1 ,404,000 foe.
The light grain crop produced a corresponding diminution
of pork.
CATTLE. The shipment of cattle at this point is immense.
The statistics from our three depots have not come to hand
in time. But we may say that the bovine interest to our city and
railroads is great as beside the local trade, there are heavy
trans-shipments of this stock. Additional roads are now con-
structing to center here, that will add greatly to this interest.
Want of space precludes the insertion of our prepared schedule,
classifying all the business departments of the city, together with
the names of parties, and amount of business done by each.
The entire list embraces about three hundred business names
and firms ; and the sum total of all business amounts, in round num-
bers, to about ten million of dollars.
AND ADVANTAGES. 81
CONCLUSION.
We hare spoken for Joliet in these pages with some ardor, but
with " words of truth and soberness." Compare our array of facts,
with all that can be said in favor of other localities. Where else can
you find in such abundance and cheapness all raw material for erect-
ing homes, business-blocks and factories? Where such solid found-
ation of rock as ours? Or such cheap locations to build upon?
Where else, but here, is the great air-line route of trade and travel?
Or where such a concentrated net-work of railroad connections ?
and consequently where such a distributive center for the reception
and distribution of goods, from and too, every point of the compass?
Where our equal water-power ? or better canal and river trans-
portation, backed up as they are by Lake Michigan pouring past our
doors ? Where have they such coal mines as ours ? Or such Joliet
marble ? Or such cement gravel beds ? Or artesian wells ? Or
delightful surroundings? Or agricultural resources? Or cheap
homes, and cheap living for the poor man ? In short, where do so
many elements cluster at one point for the sure reward of labor and
capital in building up hundreds of diversified industrial manufactur-
ing enterprises ? Look at what our endorsers say ; read the article
of Mr. Gooding, of Lockport, state engineer for over thirty years,
upon our canal and water-power ; study the exhibit of Joliet rail-
roads and connections, by Hon. H. N. Marsh ; of the article on
smelting ores, by Mr. Samuel Reed, the world-renowned engineer of
the Pacific Railroad. Peruse Hon. A. B. Mocker's exposition of our
coal and iron interests ; Judge Randall's lucid views upon agricul-
tural resources ; and last, but not least, the valuable production of
Hon. W. A. Steel, on stone! These, and other equally reliable
backers to our pamphlet can be named as reliable as Astor or
Stewart on a note or bond. If such facts, such resources, such
inducements, and such backers are satisfactory to the reader, we
cordially invite him to pull at the " latch string " of our city, and
the door shall be open for him to come in.
UCSB LIBRARY
32 JOLIET: ITS RESOURCES AND ADVANTAGES.
THE JOLIET ROLLING MILLS.
[ From the Chicago Railway Review. ]
This establishment is one of the enterprises of the "Union
Coal, Iron and Transportation Co.," and is under the same general
management as the Bridgeport (Chicago) blast furnaces of the
" Chicago Iron Co.," Mr. A. B. Meeker, of this city, being the pres-
ident, and Mr. J. II. Wrenn (of Wrenn, Ullman & Co., bankers, of
Chicago), being the treasurer of both companies; Mr. I. R. Adams
being secretary of the Rolling Mill Co. Mr. Meeker is also con-
nected with the Eureka Mining (coal) Co., at Wilmington, on the
C., A. & St. L. R. 11., fifty-three miles from Chicago, and fifteen
miles beyond Joliet. The pig, manufactured from Lake Superior
ore, and the finest of our Illinois bituminous coals, are thus brought
together with the utmost facility and economy. The advantages of
Joliet (where the company have purchased a tract of fifty acres) for
manufacturing enterprises are not surpassed by those of any other
point in Illinois. Situated at the intersection of the C., A. & St. L.,
and C., It. I. & P. R. R., and being the terminus of the M. C. ( Jol-
iet Cut-Oft') it has the most direct and closest connections with the
entire railway system of the East, West, and South. These will
soon be increased by the completion of new lines in progress, and
projected. The line of the Chicago & Iowa Railroad will be soon
completed between Joliet and Aurora, on the C., B. & Q. ; and the
Joliet, Newark & Mendota R. R. is projected, givkig connections
both with the C., B. & Q., and I. C. Situated in the center of the
celebrated " Joliet Marble " fields, the building resources of the
place are also unsurpassed, as the substantial stone and iron struc-
tures of the rolling mills show.
The mills began running about eight months ago; and it speaks
well for the character of the enterprise that, during a very dull man-
ufacturing season, in which many mills have been compelled to
temporarily cease running, the orders upon it have necessitated the
working of a force of three hundred and fifty men, one turn a day.
The capacity of the mill is kbout twenty-five thousand tons of rails
per year. Rails of any size or pattern are made.
Perhaps no other assurance is needed of the excellence of the
rails made here than the fact that among the purchasers of them
have been the C., A. & St. L., the C., R. I. & P., and C. & S. W. R.
Companies. The company have nearly perfected plans for Besse-
mer steel works, on their grounds at Joliet. It is expected to begin
building in the spring, and to have the work in operation in the fall,
at a cost of from $200,000 to $300,000.
A 000 61 1 290
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