Historians have to forgive those who have never heard of the once-bustling waterway. After all, much of the I&M has been dry for decades, and it hasn’t carried canal boats for more than 100 years. Yet in the 19th century, the hand-dug, 96-mile passage from Chicago to LaSalle was compared in importance to the Erie Canal, opening up a transportation corridor stretching from New York to New Orleans. Following the I&M’s opening in 1848, Chicago’s economy boomed.
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