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Illinois and Michigan Canal |
| 12,000 years ago |
The last glaciers retreat from northern Illinois. Mastodons, mammoths, and giant beavers become extinct. |
| 1673 | Louis Jolliet and Father Marquette explore northern Illinois, and Jolliet recommends construction of a canal to link Lake Michigan with the Gulf of Mexico. |
| 1682 | Fort St. Louis is built atop Starved Rock. |
| 1763 | Britain wrests control of the area from the French. |
| 1769 | Most of the Illinois tribe are killed at Starved Rock. |
| 1783 | Territory which is now Illinois comes into American hands. |
| 1795 | Treaty of Greenville transfers land around mouth of Chicago River from Indian to U.S Control. |
| 1803 | Construction begins on Fort Dearborn in Chicago. |
| 1812 | War of 1812 with Britain begins. |
| 1816 | Treaty with Ottawa, Potawatomi, and Chippewa tribes cedes land along the Illinois River to build a canal. |
| 1818 | Illinois becomes the 21st state. |
| 1822 | A federal act authorizes survey and building of the canal but provides no funds. |
| 1825 | Erie Canal opens, leading to increased migration to Illinois. |
| 1827 | Congress gives Illinois 300,000 acres of land to finance construction of the canal. |
| 1830 | The towns of Chicago and Ottawa are laid out by the Canal Commissioners. |
| 1832 | Black Hawk War results in loss for Indians; treaties the following year banish them west of the Mississippi River. |
| 1836 | Construction on I&M canal begins. Economic panic the following year curtails work. |
| 1840-1844 | Most work on the canal is halted due to lack of funds. |
| 1848 | I&M canal opens in April. First railroad begins in Chicago. First telegraphic message received. Chicago Board of Trade founded to handle increased shipments of grain. |
| 1849 | A devastating cholera epidemic arrives in Chicago via canal boat. |
| 1854 | Chicago and Rock Island Railroad opened to the Mississippi River; canal passenger trade is basically eliminated. |
| 1866 | Canal brings in over $300,000 in tolls. Another cholera epidemic sweeps through the region. |
| 1869 | Iron and steel works opens in Joliet; Chicago Water tower and pump works open. |
| 1871 | I&M Canal is deepened and the flow of the Chicago River is reversed and Chicago sewage is sent down the Illinois River; Great Chicago Fire; debt on the canal is paid off. |
| 1882 | Over 1 million tons transported on canal. |
| 1900 | Sanitary and Ship Canal opens. |
| 1911 | Texaco oil refinery opens in Lockport; Starved Rock designated as a state park. |
| 1922 | Cal Sag Channel opens. |
| 1933 | Illinois waterway opens and I&M Canal officially closes; Civilian Conservation Corps establishes camps along the I&M Canal to make repairs. |
| 1935 | Designation of Illinois and Michigan Canal State Parkway from Joliet to LaSalle. |
| 1942-1945 | Town of Seneca builds LST's (landing ship tanks), and the Joliet Arsenal provides TNT for American troops in World War II. |
| 1963 | The Illinois &Michigan Canal is designated a National Historic Landmark. |
| 1964 | Stevenson Expressway opens in Chicago, built over first seven miles of the I&M Canal; dedication of old canal warehouse in Utica for the LaSalle County Historical Society. |
| 1969 | I&M Canal office in Lockport closed; building turned over to the Will County Historical Society. |
| 1974 | I&M Canal transferred to the jurisdiction of the Illinois Department of Conservation (now Department of Natural Resources). |
| 1981 | National Park Service releases concept plan for Illinois &Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor. |
| 1984 | I & M National Heritage Corridor is named as the nation's first Heritage Corridor. |
| 1998 | 150th anniversary of the I&M canal. |
Canal Corridor Association, "I&M Canal 150th Anniversary Guide 1848-1998"
Chicago Tribune Advertising Supplement, April 1998