The Village of Lemont, Illinois

and areas beyond with commodities. By 1848, the town’s population had reached 3,000 people; by 1850, it had changed its name from Athens to Palymra, and finally, to Lemont. In digging the I&M Canal, workers discovered Lemont (French for “the mountain”) yellow dolomite, a harder and finer grained version of limestone, and the quarrying industry soon became the main economic factor of the town’s growth. During the period from about 1850 to 1900 this stone, known as Joliet-Lemont limestone, and locally as Athens Marble, became one of the chief building materials used in many landmark buildings both locally and in the surrounding area. Today, 38 buildings constructed of Lemont limestone remain in the Village’s downtown district. The Chicago Water Tower, the gate to the Stockyards, Holy Name Cathedral, part of the Auditorium Building in Chicago, Old Main at Northwestern University, and part of the Capitol building at Springfield are some THE V I LLAGE OF LEMONT , I LL INOI S of the other structures constructed of Lemont limestone. The quarry industry, like the canal before, attracted more immigrant groups, mainly from southern and south central Europe: Poland, Bohemia, Czechoslovakia, Austria, and Italy. In the second half of the 19th century, two rail lines - the Chicago & Alton, and the Santa Fe - began to replace the canal as the main mode of transportation for goods and people. The Village of Lemont was incorporated in 1873, and by this time, it had become an important cattle, grain, and dairy shipping point. In the 1890s, construction began on the wider and deeper Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal, built parallel to the I&M Canal, and capable of carrying waste away from Chicago, as well as more modern barges. All use of the I&M Canal ended in 1933, with the opening of the canal’s modern successor, the Illinois Waterway, of which the Sanitary and Ship Canal is a part. I&M Canal