[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 163 (Friday, November 15, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1679]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  HONORING RESIDENTS OF THE VILLAGE OF LYONS 125TH ANNIVERSARY OF ITS 
                             INCORPORATION

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                          HON. DANIEL LIPINSKI

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 15, 2013

  Mr. LIPINSKI. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the Village of 
Lyons, Illinois, which is celebrating its 125th anniversary.
  Lyons enjoys a long and colorful history, beginning in the late 17th 
century when the explorers Louis Joliet and Father Pierre Marquette 
began their quest for a western passage to the Pacific. After deciding 
to return home to Green Bay, Wisconsin, the explorers learned about a 
path from the Pottawatomie Native Americans traveling with them, a path 
that connected the Chicago and the Des Plaines Rivers, and included the 
future site of the Village of Lyons. Two hundred years later this 
swampy path would become the Illinois & Michigan Canal, one of the most 
important canals in the history of the United States, and a primary 
reason why Chicago became the nation's transportation hub. The Chicago 
Sanitary and Ship Canal, which replaced the Illinois & Michigan Canal, 
remains a critical link between the Mississippi River and the Great 
Lakes.
  As Chicago grew so did Lyons, but the residents never forgot the 
historically important site on which their Village was founded and 
built. Today, a statue stands at the Chicago Portage National Historic 
Site to honor that history.
  Along the banks of the Des Plaines River sits another historic site, 
the Hofmann Tower. Built in 1908, the tower sits next to the former 
site of an electric dam Hofmann built and was meant to attract visitors 
to the area to enjoy the river and its banks. In 1978, Hofmann Tower 
was named to the National Register of Historic Places and Mayor Getty 
is currently working on plans to restore it.
  I am proud to represent the Village of Lyons as it prospers today 
under the leadership of Mayor Chris Getty. On November 15, I will join 
the mayor and the residents of Lyons at Crystal Sky Banquets to 
celebrate the village's 125th anniversary.
  I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the residents of Lyons, 
Illinois on the 125th anniversary of their village. May they enjoy this 
weekend's celebration and may the village continue to thrive as a close 
community.

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