W To Moline then N to Rock Falls vic., Hennepin, Illinois. County/parish: Bureau.
Added to the National Register of Historic Places May 22, 1978. NRIS 78003433.
20 contributing buildings. 80 contributing structures.Also known as:
The Hennepin Canal State Trail, also just called the Hennepin Canal, is an abandoned waterway in northwest Illinois, between the Mississippi River at Rock Island and the Illinois River near Hennepin. The entire canal is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Opened in 1907, the canal was soon abandoned because of railroad competition. It was resurrected in the late 20th century as a recreational waterway. Its former name was the Illinois and Mississippi Canal. The main canal length is 75.2 miles (121.0 km), and its feeder canal is 29.3 miles (47.2 km) long. The state park spans five counties (Rock Island, Bureau, Henry, Lee and Whiteside) and is 104.5 miles (168.2 km) long.
The Hennepin Canal follows a natural low area between Hennepin and Rock Island. This is actually the ancient channel of the Mississippi River, which at one time flowed from Rock Island to Hennepin, and then south through what is now the Illinois River channel. The Illinoian Stage, about 300,000 to 132,000 years before present day, blocked the Mississippi River near Rock Island, diverting the Mississippi into its modern channel.
(read more...)National Park Service documentation: https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28891752