Joliet Limestone: Our Canals and Quarries

Joliet Limestone: Our Canals and Quarries. . Exceptional in its historical detail and social conscience, this mural honors the canal and quarry workers who literally helped build the 'City of Stone' in the 19th century. Depicting the lives, struggles, and families of the men who moved earth, water, and limestone at great toil and peril, the artwork features Irish workers digging the Illinois and Michigan Canal, African men deepening the Des Plaines River for the Sanitary and Shipping Canal, and German and other immigrants extracting stone from its quarries. There are few richer monuments to Joliet's labor heritage., Begun in 1836 and completed in 1848, the 1 and M Canal connected Lake Michigan with the Illinois River and, ultimately, the Atlantic Ocean with the Gulf of Mexico. It was at the time the largest construction project in the state's history, and its opening spurred an increase in commercial prosperity for canal towns like Joliet. By August 1838, 3200 men were toiling on the canal. It was difficult and dangerous work. Many died of diseases including cholera and dysentery. Local lore had it that canal workers were paid a dollar and a gill (4 oz.) of whiskey per 15-hour workday, plus board. The Sanitary and Shipping Canal was begun in 1877 and completed in 1909., The foundation of Joliet industry was literally built of stone. The city and region rest upon vast deposits of dolomite, which became known as 'Joliet Limestone' or 'Joliet Marble'. In the latter half of the 19th century, stone became the major building block, not just in the Joliet area, but throughout the Midwest. Production of cut building stone declined after 1890 due to the growing popularity of concrete and the changing architectural styles.,

Lead artists: Kathleen Farrell, Kathleen Scarboro. Assistant artists: Carla Carr, Dante DiBartolo, Erin Jordan, Eric Standish, David Wilson, Jeanne Zimmerman. Mural sponsored by the City of Joliet. Plaque sponsored by the Joliet/Will County Center for Economic Development Foundation. Copyright Friends of Community Public Art 1997