Illinois
Continued From Page 49
was replaced with steel, but the stone
piers have recently been restored. The
aqueduct no longer carriers water but
instead is part of the I&M Canal State
bicycling and walking trail.
Also in Ottawa is the last remaining
canal tollhouse, a wood frame structure
on Columbus Street. Tolls paid the
expenses of maintain the canal and paid
off the bonds that financed construction.
Enough tolls were collected to pay off all
bondholders in 1871, 23 years after the
canal opened. A monument in downtown
Washington Park memorializes the first
Lincoln-Douglas Debate that was held
here on August 21, 1858.
LaSalle
We go to the charming gift shop and
café at the Lock 16 Visitor Center in
LaSalle (www.lasallecanalboat.org, 815220-1848, 754 First Street) to purchase
tickets for the canal boat tours that
operate from May through October.
Lock 16 is the only functional lock along
the canal; the one-hour tours on the
Volunteer packet boat run round trip
through the lock to the Little Vermillion
River aqueduct, pulled by a pair of mules
BLOOMINGTON/NORMAL
Continued Next Page
50
Produced & Printed In The USA • Keeping You On The Mother Road • 2012-2013