Editing LaSalle, Illinois (section)

===Canal port (1836–1933)===
[[File:Lasallecanalboat1.jpg|left|thumb|''[[The Volunteer (canal boat)|The Volunteer]]'', an 1848 replica canal boat on the [[Illinois and Michigan Canal]] at LaSalle, Illinois.]]
The [[Illinois and Michigan Canal]] was first thought up by French explorer Louis Joliet. Much later, when Illinois became a state, the idea of a canal connecting [[Lake Michigan]] to the [[Illinois River]] was supported by many, including [[Abraham Lincoln]]. The 96-mile canal was finally constructed between 1836 and 1848. Upon its completion, [[Chicago]] became the eastern terminus and LaSalle became the western terminus. LaSalle boomed as a transshipment point from canal boats coming from Chicago to steamboats going to [[St. Louis]] and [[New Orleans]]. It became a place where Northern and Southern culture met.

It is difficult to imagine the level of frenzied activity that once took place at locks 14 and 15, where the canal boat basin and the steamboat basins were located. [[Steamboat#Mississippi and Missouri river traffic|Steamboats]] from New Orleans unloaded molasses, sugar, coffee, and fresh oranges and lemons. [[The Volunteer (canal boat)|Canal boats]] from Chicago brought lumber, stoves, wagons, and the latest clothing styles from the east. Local farmers hauled corn and wheat to be shipped to Chicago and points east. Passengers hustled to make connections to canal boats bound for Chicago or steamboats headed to St. Louis and beyond. Hotels and other services were available to travelers. Many stores grew catering to canal trade.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iandmcanal.org/images/roadmap2-canal_story.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2015-02-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206063605/http://www.iandmcanal.org/images/roadmap2-canal_story.pdf |archive-date=2015-02-06 }}</ref>

Today the story can be told at the La Salle Canal Boat, ''[[The Volunteer (canal boat)|the Volunteer]]''.