Dixie Highway Connected Chicago to Miami in the Early Days of Automobile Travel

Momence: a hunter, trapper and fisherman's paradise along the beautiful Kankakee

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 22, 2021

1. Dixie Highway Connected Chicago to Miami in the Early Days of Automobile Travel Marker

The Grand Kankakee Marsh attracted presidents, industrialists, and European nobility in the late 1800s for its superior hunting.

Kickapoo and Pottawatomie Indians lived in the area long before European settlers arrived. Momence was named for Chief Pierre "Pierish" Moran's son, Isadore Mo-mence "Moness," who married Ge-Neir, a Pottawatomie Chief's daughter.

Settled in 1834, treaties with the Pottawatomie allowed the city to move one mile downstream to its current location.

Between 1852 and 1919 the marsh was drained to create farmland, using teams of horses and later huge steam shovels. Today, only a fraction, 72 acres, known as the Momence Wetlands,

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Much of the original 19th century downtown business district remains intact and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A high concentration of enameled brick, manufactured by the Tiffany Brick Factory (circa 1884) was used to construct buildings and interiors. The factory closed during the Depression, affecting the local economy. In 1835 the Illinois general assembly created a state road that connected old Fort Vincennes in Indiana with Fort Dearborn at Chicago. The trail was selected as the most direct and favorable route; the first official route in Illinois, thus Route 1.

The Vincennes Trail, partly a plank road, became Vincennes Road and passed through Momence with milestones marking the way. East of Momence on Vincennes Trail Road is one of three which still remain.

The Dixie Highway, an idea of Carl G. Fisher of the Lincoln Highway Association, was formed in 1915 to promote tourism by creating a north-south route of connected paved roads from Chicago to Miami so automobile enthusiasts from the urban north could vacation in the rural south. Dirt roads were paved with brick or concrete to make

2. Marker detail: The Kankakee River

The Kankakee River, the heart of Momence, has always been important to its citizens. Spectators await the arrival of river floats during an early Gladiolus Festival in the 1940s. Today the Gladiolus Festival boasts a Grand Street Parade not rivaled in the region and held the 2nd Saturday each August.

This sign celebrates the 2015 centennial of the Dixie Highway and was made possible by the cooperative efforts of the A's R Us and Blue Island, Posen, Markham, Hazel Crest, Homewood, Flossmoor, Chicago Heights, Steger, Crete, Beecher, Grant Park and Momence.
 
Erected 2015 by Main Street Momence; the City of Momence; and the A's R Us Model A Club.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Indigenous Peoples and Communities • Parks & Recreational Areas • Roads & Vehicles • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1900.
 
Location. 41° 9.722′ N, 87° 39.775′ W. Marker is in Momence, Illinois, in Kankakee County. It is at the intersection of Dixie Highway (Illinois Route 1) and West River Street, on the right when traveling south on Dixie Highway. Marker is located near the northwest corner of the Kankakee River Bridge. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Momence IL 60954, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Central Illinois. It is also in the American Midwest and in the Corn Belt.

3. Marker detail: A. S. "Uncle Sid" Vail

A. S. "Uncle Sid" Vail, the white whiskered gentleman shown at the far left, was known as the first citizen of Momence. Uncle Sid hosted many Kankakee River excursions for prominent citizens over the years from his cabin, which was built around 1900. Mr. Vail was also a government agent who escorted bands of Pottawatomie Native Americans west of the Mississippi in the mid-18th century. This task deeply saddened Mr. Vail as many of the European settlers were good friends with the Pottawatomie people. He spoke of the heartbreak and misery he witnessed firsthand caused by this removal until his death in 1910 at the age of 99.

America,

Lakes,

Hemisphere,

World,

Anglosphere.

Culture

Territory.

4. Marker detail: Meinzer/Lowe Funeral Procession

A double funeral procession for Mr. Meinzer, an engineer on the Danville-Chicago passenger run and Mr. Lowe, a local fireman, makes its way down Range Street (Dixie Highway) in the late 1800s. Local churches could not accommodate the crowd, so services were held at the Opera House.

5. Marker detail: 1885 Wennerholm Livery & Garage

The 1885 Wennerholm Livery & Garage, originally known as the Miller House Stables is a city landmark and tells the story of Momence's transportation history. First it was utilized to house and rent buggies to patrons and then as an auto agency which sold three popular makes of cars in the early 20th Century: the Jackson, the Maxwell, and the Velie, later becoming the dealer for Chrysler-Plymouth.

6. Marker detail: Frank Lane & Lafayette Buffington

Lifetime friends, a youthful Frank Lane and Lafayette Buffington pose in Lane's studio on west Washington Street decked out in their finest hunting gear. Lane provided a lifelong, professional documentary of hunting, fishing, and trapping along the Kankakee and the Grand Kankakee Marsh. Buffington, born in Momence in 1850, was street commissioner for 25 years.

7. Marker detail: Gurdon Hubbard

Gurdon Hubbard, who might have been called "the most interesting man in the world" during his time, was a frontiersman, fur trader, meat packer, insurance underwriter, banker, steamship magnate, legislator, and civic leader. Known as "Swift Walker" by the Native Americans, he once famously covered 75 miles in one night. Hubbard's Trail was created by migrating buffalo and was heavily used by Pottawatomie and Kickapoo Indians, as well as fur trappers. Mile Marker 179, just east of Momence was placed in 1835. The trail eventually became Route 1/Dixie Highway.

Photographed by Cosmos Mariner, June 22, 2021

8. Dixie Highway Connected Chicago to Miami in the Early Days of Automobile Travel Marker

(looking south along the Dixie Highway • Kankakee River Bridge in background)