City of LaSalle history

After Illinois had declared statehood on December 3, 1818, it was only a matter of time before settlers began moving into the Illinois Valley.

Lapsley built a log cabin between Fourth and Fifth Streets, south of the present location of LaSalle-Peru Township High School in 1830.

LaSalle County was established on January 15, 1831.

Men on both sides of the border, calling themselves Patriots, formed in 1837 with the intention of seizing southern Ontario between the Detroit and Niagara Rivers.

Consequently, the city of LaSalle was platted in 1838.

The canal was officially opened on April 16, 1848.

In 1851, residents of the area began to see a need for an organized government.

One year later, on August 4, 1852, the City of LaSalle was officially established as a city.

The LaSalle Coal Mining Company completed the first shaft in 1856 and many other companies soon followed suit.

The history of LaSalle would have played out very differently were it not for the arrival of two immigrants in 1858.

Canada A Yearly Journey – 1868 12 months ago

By 1869, the official boundaries of the City had been established.

The Hegeler-Carus Mansion (1874), built by Edward C. Hegeler (a partner in the Matthiessen and Hegeler Zinc Company), is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

In 1884, Stahlberg started the United Clock Company in Peru.

By 1905 it had grown into a national company, producing over 1 million alarm clocks per year.

In 1914, Matthiessen established the Hygienic Institute to combat epidemics.

In 1924, Petite Cote had 800 people and was incorporated as the Town of LaSalle.

In 1935 it was the safest company in the nation with 11 million hours without a lost time accident.

In 1943, Deer Park became Matthiessen State Park, named in his honor.

Many may remember the Town of LaSalle in the 1950’s.

One of the worst disasters to happen in LaSalle was the flood that hit the community in 1952.

The town did exist at that time, but declared bankruptcy in 1959 and amalgamated with the Township of Sandwich West.

Throughout the 1970’s, the Township of Sandwich West was able to continue to provide services to its residents.

Although development in the region slowed considerably in the early 1980’s, by later that decade, there was a huge growth in Sandwich West Township with more than an average of 400 homes started annually.

The city is at the western end of the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor, the first such corridor designated by the United States Congress (1982). Inc.

The origins of the festival date back to 1988, running from May 28 to 29, when the first-ever festival was held, bringing out hundreds of locals for what would quickly become an annual event.

The creation of the town was a big deal and on June 2, 1991, 1,000 residents came out to the environmental building to celebrate.

Over the course of their career, which took off in 1996, they have sold two million albums worldwide, had four double-platinum albums, one platinum album and four gold albums in Canada.