Joliet Iron Works, IL

The 52-acre Joliet Iron Works Historic Site was acquired between 1991 and 1997. The preserve is part of the Des Plaines River preservation system, which conserves more than 2,400 acres. Joliet Iron Works Historic Site features 0.59 mile of paved trail that provides a self-guided interpretive tour of the site’s historical significance.

Prior to the District’s acquisition of the land, it was the site of an iron manufacturing facility from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Cultural resources protected at the preserve include foundations of the blast furnaces and other structures from the dismantled factory. https://www.reconnectwithnature.org​

Reminiscing about the movie, The Blues Brothers, we spend some time taking in the industrial sights and sounds. The Joliet Iron Works hike is a history hike along a tight loop, basically a down and back. We thought this would be a quick hike to knock off our list. It turns out to be really interesting and we both gained energy with the city energy around us. We spent a few hours in total.

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We waste no time climbing on the ruins to get better views of the area. In the background is an omni-present train horn. If you have ever wanted to wonder around an old industrial site, this is the hike for you.

Joliet Iron Works Historic Site features 0.59 mile of paved trail that provides a self-guided interpretive tour of the site’s historical significance. The preserve also provides access to the 7.57-mile, crushed limestone/paved I&M Canal Trail. Prior to the District’s acquisition of the land, it was the site of an iron manufacturing facility from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Cultural resources protected at the preserve include foundations of the blast furnaces and other structures from the dismantled factory.

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From 1876 to 1907, we walk along a brick timeline of world events to demonstrate how rapidly life changed at the turn of the last century. The invention of most of the modern modes of transportation and communication happened during this short period of time.

We really enjoyed the density of historic information found on the Joliet Iron Works hike. This video shares the various wage disparities and Scott goes off on pay practices, modern and historic. In case you have any doubts about what Scott is saying, “equal pay for equal work” sums it up.

We talk about the value of brown fielding. Is this site a disgrace of modern man or an attempt to clean up? Then we talk about daily wages and do our best to calculate income rates from the early 1900’s into today’s equivalent. We did some quick math to come up with a rate in the $13.00 – $19.00. I think we made a mistake in that we were looking at a daily wages and not hourly wages. In a later video we correct our math a bit to come up with a daily wage of around $30.00 in today’s terms.

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This is more than a cool hike, it’s also a history tour. We are reading information about the origination of the Employee Safety movement.

We averaged less than 1 mile per hour on this hike due to our interests in learning the history of the site. In this video, we try and calculate steal output but if anyone knows something about this subject, please comment below. We have no experience with this topic.

Ryan talks about Urban Art. Scott recaps wage mathematics. This video has a little of everything except a nature experience.

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What a different type of hike for us. Normally, we are looking to make miles and see as much nature as possible. This is a history hike and we really enjoyed learning. If you want to make some miles, this hike is part of the I&M Trail. See our I&M Trail videos. Special thanks to the Will County Forest Preserve for making this hike possible and the I&M Trail hike as well. https://www.reconnectwithnature.org​

The Joliet Prison was built in 1858 and operated until 2002. The prison was featured in the opening scene of the film, The Blues Brothers. Come on down and take a tour sometime. https://www.jolietprison.org​

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