Limestone Beer Stories

Electric Park (Golden Ale)

Electric Park was established October 21st, 1904 to stimulate business for the electric line and for the enjoyment of the public. The Aurora, Plainfield, and Joliet Railroad Co. was nearby and this park quickly accelerated into one of Will County’s most beautiful parks.

The 20-acre park rested on what formerly had been John Sennitt’s cow pasture. Upon which the Fisher Construction Co. built a large steel auditorium, dance pavilion, restaurant building, boathouse, bowling lane, horse track, dining hall and a baseball diamond with an enclosed grandstand and bleacher stand.

In the evening, Electric Park would shine through the landscape with its myriad of lights. Hourly street car service would bring people from Aurora and Joliet to this summer destination. There were two waiting stations near James and Lockport streets where people could get a ride, but some companies would rent special cars to take their employees to the park for picnics.

The main entrance to the park was located at James and Lockport streets. Concerts were given, baseball games were played, cottages could be rented, and because the DuPage River was nearby there was a great deal of water activity. A paddlewheel boat took people sightseeing along the river and there was a water slide where bathers could slide into the water on a toboggan after climbing 150 steps to an area above the bathhouse.

In 1923 the Electric Co. went out of business due to the coming of the “horseless Carriage.” Lawrence “Butch” J. Crowley purchased the park property at this time and began to sell lots, although it was rumored he made his money from illicit liquor. In 1940 the last of the street car tracks were removed from Lockport St. and in 1975 the only original building left was the Auditorium.

Halfway House (Halfway Small Stout)

The Halfway House, or Wight House, was built in 1834, making it one of the first houses built in Illinois. Squire Arnold built a one-story entrance to the building and made it into a tavern. It also became the first government franchised Post Office in what is now Will County.

Halfway House was an overnight stop on the Dr. John Temple Stage Line, located halfway between Ottawa and Chicago. The Stage Line carried passengers and mail from 1834 to 1852. It was during this time when postmaster Albert W. Bowen and his deputy Charles Sayre would pick up mail for a small town, then called Juliet.

West of the Halfway House was a large horse barn to accommodate the stage line. It was a long trip between Chicago and Plainfield, so there would be an overnight stay at the house and horses would be changed. On the return trip, the original horses would be re-hitched to the stage and would go back to Chicago.

As the years passed, the Halfway House became known as the Wight house when Dr. Erastus G. Wight of Naperville leased the tavern and built additions on adjoining property. There was a tavern, dining room, kitchen and sleeping rooms on the second floor. Off of which was built a ballroom where people would attend dances.

Indian Boundary IBA

Many of the Indian Nations found homes in what is now part of Will County. The rich river valleys of the Illinois and Kankakee were ideal for growing corn, squash, and beans. Also found were wild berries, roots, and fruits. Ducks, geese, and wild turkey were abundant in the area making it no small wonder that the Indians came to Plainfield and the Will County Area.

In the early 1800’s, the need for improved transportation prompted congress to consider internal improvements. In 1807 the Senate asked for a report on roads and canals. Mentioned in this report was the Chicago Portage, a low divide between the waters of Lake Michigan and the Des Plaines River that the Indians used as a carrying passage. The French explorers Louis Joliet and Father Marquette recorded the marshy nature of this passage in 1673.
As of 1816, the United States had acquired from the Indians the greater part of what is now Illinois, but not the lands adjacent to Lake Michigan including the Chicago Portage. The Indian Commissioners were instructed to negotiate for a tract of land, which would connect the shores of Lake Michigan with the Illinois Purchase.

The Indian Boundary line came about on August 24th, 1816, when the Fox and Sauk tribes ceded land in a 20-mile corridor to the United States, at the Treaty of St. Louis. This tract of land, through which white men were supposed to be able to travel safely, runs diagonally from the southern extremity of Lake Michigan westward to the Mississippi.

The southern of the two boundary lines begins at the mouth of the Calumet River and goes straight southwest to the Kankakee River. The northern boundary line begins in the center of Rogers Avenue in Chicago at Lake Michigan and angles southwest. This northern Indian Boundary Line runs through Bolingbrook. The rest of the land outside the boundaries was still owned by Native American tribes until the Chicago Treaty of 1833.

Old Chicago Amber Ale

After a trip to Knott’s Berry Farm, Designer Robert Brindle conceived the idea to put an amusement park indoors and brought that idea to Bolingbrook, IL in 1975. Complete with a roller coaster and Ferris wheel, this shopping mall and park could be enjoyed year round. The mall featured small local shops and boutiques rather than the traditional department stores that anchor most malls.

A variety of factors led to the demise of Old Chicago, including the opening of Six Flags in 1976.