[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 101 (Friday, June 9, 2023)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E537]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





       CELEBRATING THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE VILLAGE OF LEMONT

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BILL FOSTER

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, June 9, 2023

  Mr. FOSTER. Mr. Speaker, I am pleased today to celebrate the 150th 
anniversary of the Village of Lemont's Incorporation. Since 1873, the 
Village of Lemont has built a culturally diverse and hardworking 
community, contributing to the rich transportation history of Illinois 
as the epicenter of the Illinois and Michigan Canal which linked the 
Illinois River and Lake Michigan.
  With land in DuPage, Will, and Cook Counties, Lemont currently has 
over 16,000 residents, many of them descendants of laborers who dug the 
I & M Canal and later, the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. They 
immigrated from Germany, Ireland, Scandinavian, as well as from French 
and English Canada, all looking for a better life. While digging the I 
& M Canal, an exceptionally fine grade of dolomite limestone was 
discovered, called ``Athens Marble'' for the original name of Lemont, 
leading to decades of stone quarry development. This distinctive 
limestone is seen in landmarks throughout Illinois and prominently in 
Lemont and neighboring communities. The quarry industry attracted 
immigrants from Poland, Bohemia, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Austria and 
Italy. Labor history was made during sometimes violent struggles for 
fair wages and safer working conditions between quarry workers and 
owners.
  Home to The Lemont Heritage Quarries Recreation Area, Lithuanian 
World Center, the Heritage Corridor Business Alliance, and numerous 
vital community organizations, residents of Lemont have much to 
celebrate. With pride, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing 
this milestone for the Village of Lemont, a vibrant community ready to 
optimistically face its next one hundred and 50 years.

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