The Quarry Tour
By Jacquelyn Uznanski
I knew Lee Anderson from the Lemont Artists Guild. He was a wood carver, who specialized in meticulously painted wooden birds. On a lovely and hot spring day, around the time I was 14, he gave our guild his 1st quarry tour along Lemont’s I&M Canal. Lee, a tall thin man with short gray hair, and a warm sense of humor, grew up in Lemont. He dressed casually for the occasion, wearing a red plaid western shirt, bolo tie, white Stetson, jeans, large shiny belt buckle, and cowboy boots. He carried a long walking stick and wore a blue vest covered in Earth Day and bird buttons. The I&M was built in the 1830’s. While digging this section, a high quality limestone was discovered, beginning the quarry industry here. Lee spent a lifetime hiking, fishing, hunting, and swimming in the area. As a kid, he helped his dad set traps along the canal for muskrat. He knew the terrain well. He described quarry workers, when he was young, pumping water out of some quarries to keep mining. Others had already been abandoned to nature. Lee showed us an arc carved into the canal’s side for barges and boats to change directions. At it’s peak, the arc almost doubled the canal’s width. Not too far down the path we came upon the remains of a huge kiln for making lime. Four pillars, three tall and one shorter, marked its outside corners. A pile of limestone rubble filled the space between so when standing on top, my head was nearly the height of the highest pillar. The kiln was about twice my height, or one and a half of my dad. Amato’s Quarry, aka Quarry 1, was a busy summer hotspot. Lee said the spring fed water was cold enough that being near the edge felt like air conditioning. A stone outcrop right in the middle allowed swimmers a rest. Lee gleefully told us about the nuns, who lived at least a quarter of a mile uphill, calling the cops on skinny dippers. We laughed and decided that the nuns either had extraordinary eyesight or binoculars. At the Great Lakes Quarry we sat on rocks, dangling our feet over the water, feeling the cooling effect. A lovely respite. The edge of this quarry was also the home of the cat lady. She had dozens of cats and was one of many squatters in the area when Lee was young. As we went, Lee pointed out the remains of houses…stone steps, chimney bases, fire pits, garden borders…archaeological hints of the people who once lived here. Lee’s tours lit up my imagination. I dreamt of a park for Lemont with hiking, swimming, boating, climbing areas for kids and adults, an amphitheater in the field past Great Lakes Quarry, and a beautiful little diner with outdoor seating where the cat lady lived. I presented my plan to the village in H.S., and again in college. The town slowly developed the area, and it eventually closely matched my vision. The tour was a great hike filled with natural beauty, stories and history. I was so glad that Lee shared his passion and knowledge with us. For me, the experience brought our beautiful valley to life.
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