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Things to do in Joliet
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Joliet Historical Society Museum
The Joliet Area Historical Museum
is housed in the beautiful old Ottawa Street Methodist Church in
downtown Joliet, Illinois. Opening in 2002, the main exhibition
hall is an opportunity to look back into the wonderful stories
of the people and the area that is today, Joliet. All of the
displays are magnified by the fantastic state-of-the-art audio
and visual equipment, full size models, touch screen panels and
the superb Lunar Lander simulator; presenting the visitor with a
bird's eye view of what created this city; with rotating
exhibits coming in to augment the historical significance of the
events and people that forged the city of Joliet. This exciting
museum is the outcome of many groups of caring people that live
in the area, the City of Joliet, its residents, the Joliet
Junior College and the historical society. The city bought the
old church so that its beauty would continue to grace the city,
and the museum became a 501 non-profit in 1999. Joliet is about
35 miles southwest of Chicago, sitting beside the Des Plaines
River, and considered a main transportation center, as well as
the crossroads of two of our country's national scenic byways;
Route 66, where you get your kicks and the Lincoln Highway; one
of our nation's first major main thoroughfare between the east
and west coast. One of the special displays that is now going on
in the museum is the "Envisioning Joliet: Burnham, Bennett and
Beyond". This tells about the plan Daniel Burnham had for the
World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, the first major milestone
for the Chicago area, yet Burnham was in the Joliet area, and
numerous buildings can tell of his involvement in the city's
early years. These include the Public Library Main Branch, the
Township High School, the YMCA and the Renaissance Center. It
was Burnham and Edward Bennett that worked on the 1909 plan of
Chicago, and this same Bennett created a plan for the Joliet
township in 1921; which is displayed in the museum. Over 150
souvenirs and artifacts are on exhibit here, from the
exposition, and this includes the VOA Associate's proposed idea
of what the city of Joliet should look like. The display is
co-sponsored by the museum and Lewis University, and part of the
University of Chicago's Burnham Plan Centennial celebration. A
new permanent display is now open; the "Soaring Achievements of
John C. Houbolt", which celebrates the incredible 1969 lunar
landing and gives honor to a former Joliet resident and
important part of the lunar orbit rendezvous concept, Dr. John
C. Houbolt. This spectacular display is 500 square feet, and
rises two stories, with flat-screen narratives, diagrams and
maps, interactive panels, audio-visuals and time specific
dioramas that relate the thrilling race to the moon, the Apollo
11 mission, the lunar landing and Dr. Houbolt's dream. Here you
can get into the Lunar Lander simulator that will take you to
the surface of the moon, where you will have vivid visions of
walking on that spectacular orb. It is an exciting experience
where you will step outside the module and use the controls to
bring the spacecraft safely to the surface. You can use an exact
replica of the throttle and joystick, just like the astronauts
did on that eventful and most historical day. The museum staff
enjoy bringing exciting and wonderful exhibits to their fellow
citizens, and one such program is the lunch with the Lincolns, a
youth and scout program that will have actors playing the part
of Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln so that all their questions
will be answered. There are special family programs, adult
programs and special events for everyone throughout the
community, making sure that this museum is a positive part of
its city.
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Joliet Iron Works Historic Site
The Joliet Iron and Steel
Works, has been called the Joliet Iron Works and the Joliet
Steel Works, but whatever name you chose to call them, it was,
at one time, the second biggest producing steel mill in the
country; running from 1869 until 1936. It did manage to re-open,
but because it failed to make money, the entire operation was
shut down in the early 1980s. Then during the 1990s, the Forest
Preserve District of Will County decided to create a historic
site and the old remains of the mill, with a mile long trail and
numerous signs telling the importance of the mill; now calling
it the Joliet Iron Works Historic Site. The mill was owned and
operated by the Joliet Steel Company, but was eventually taken
over by the Illinois Steel Company in 1889, which in turn was
taken over by the Federal Steel Company; that would become a
central part of the creation of US Steel. The mill used the Des
Plaines River for its power, and utilized four huge blast
furnaces to produce 2000 tons of pig iron every day. It included
a gas engine house, casting bed, skull house, gas washers,
blowing engine house, stock house, hot blast stoves and four
pass stoves. The rolling mill was of major importance in the
mill, and struck its first blow in March of 1873, and the
railroad rails that rolled out of the works played a prominent
part in the creation our of nation's railroad infrastructure. In
1900, through continued growth and increased production, the
mill had almost 2000 people on its payroll. These same workers
became part of the Steel Strike of 1919, but by 1926, the mill
had around 4000 people working there. The 1.5 mile trail that
meanders around the site, will give visitors a distinctive idea
of the magnitude of the millworks, and 17 markers are displayed
along the way for emphasis and information. The Illinois and
Michigan Canal borders the mill, as well as the I & M trail.
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Chicagoland Speedway
One of the newest and most
exciting venues in the Joliet area is the creation of the
Chicagoland Speedway, that holds up to 75,000 people, and since
opening in 2001, has become one of the major attractions in the
area; with spectacular NASCAR and IRL events. These events has
often sold out months in advance, so if you are planning to
visit the area and enjoy racing events, especially NASCAR, then
it would behoove you to plan on contacting the speedway for
advance tickets. It was constructed with the typical "cookie
cutter" designs, much the same as many other NASCAR tracks, that
are downforce racetracks that look like a D shaped oval.
However, at Chicagoland, it is more noticeably a continuous
curve, more than the distinctive D shape. The track hosts the
IndyCar Series Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 each August and the
NASCAR Truck Series Enjoyillinois.com 225 race was added in
2008. It also hosts the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, called the
LifeLock.com 400, as well as the Nationwide Series, called the
Dollar General 300, which is held each July. The track was
constructed from 1999 and 2000, next to the Route 66 Raceway,
hosting its inaugural events, the NACAR Busch, which had become
the Nationwide Series, and the Winston Cup, which became the
ARCA RE/MAX Series and the Spring Cup Series. A number of
unbelievable events occurred at the track, first in 2005, Ryan
Briscoe had a huge crash there and after receiving some
treatment here, had to fly to Italy for his recovery; which took
2 months. He is now referred to as Briscoe Inferno. Lights were
installed for night racing in 2007, and in 2008 two races were
held at night; the Nationwide Series and the Sprint Cup Series.
Also in 2007, Logan Gomez won his first Indy Pro Series race, by
a Guinness Book World Record of .0005 seconds or an incredible 3
inches which is why it was put in the records as being the
closest finish in professional racing history.
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