1862 Seneca (Hogan) Grain Elevator/Warehouse and RR Spur

1912 Photo of Hogan's Elevator from Facebook

(Satellite)

Update: I found this Library of Contress photo in the Kankakee and Seneca RR Facebook Group.
The following comment is from the Facebook posting:

Larry D Thorson Jeremiah Crotty Built the elevator for D. C. Underhill in 1857. Later, known as the "South Elevator". The elevator was first served by the canal barges.(as late as 1900) The Rock Island was built next...1854. Then the K&S...1881.

The grain elevator that is next to the I&M Canal is the oldest remaining I&M Canal grain elevator. Looking downstream from Main Street in Seneca, we see the grain elevator on the north side.

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Mariana Nicasio posted

Mariana's comment:
Almost 12 years after its initial beginning, the Illinois & Michigan Canal was finally opened. It ran a total of 96 miles and allowed shipping from the Great Lakes through Chicago to the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. Photo was taken by Seneca, IL courtesy of US National Historical Landmark.

Notice the white grain elevator in the right background. Since the comment indicates the photo is in Seneca, this is probably the same elevator that sets there today.

Illinois and Michigan Canal Photo Tour posted
Hogan grain elevator, Seneca IL, circa 1920 and 2013
[Others have provided more photos in the comments.]

 

Illinois and Michigan Canal Photo Tour posted
Another then and now of the Hogan elevator at Seneca. Built in 1862 by John Armour (brother of Phillip Armour of meatpacking fame). Restored in 2005, it has once again fallen upon hard times.

 

Mark Hunt commented on the above post
Found this amazing structure years back on a return trip from Starved Rock. A real gem.
Paul Petraitis shared

The upstream view confirms that the canal is dry in this stretch. I wonder how wet it gets during a good thunderstorm.

A three-quarters view indicates the structure needs some maintenance. I learned from Joe Balynas that it was restored in 2004 at a cost of 1.5 million dollars (old photo comments). I'm surprised that it has deteriorated so much in just 10 years.

References call this structure the Armour's Warehouse because John Armour constructed this grain warehouse in 1861 or 1862 depending on the source. It was a warehouse because the grain was stored by stacking sacks of grain. Equipment to elevate grain and store it in bins without any sacks was probably added in the late 1860s or early 1870s. And the ownership changed hands several times. The current signage indicates H. J. Hogan, and that is why it is also known as Hogan's Grain Elevator, and it functioned as a grain elevator until 1988. The IDNR (Illinois Department of Natural Resources) bought it in 1985, but leased it to a local farmer for grain storage until 1988. They commissioned an archaeological investigation of the structures and land in 1986.

There was another grain elevator on the south side of the canal that was constructed in 1857 and enlarged in 1880, but it was demolished in 1942. The north elevator held 130,000 bushels. The storage consisted of corn cribs as well as grain bins. The machinery was originally powered by steam using cobs as well as coal. It was converted to electricity by 1924.

A view from across the street on the north side shows the other buildings associated with the grain elevator. 

You can see the brown line of the railroad track just this side of the ramp and the dump shed. More on that later.

A close up of the office and seed warehouse indicates the current IDNR ownership.

A site map of the current layout.

Dearborn Associates of Chicago 1992

Between 1898 and 1907

The railroad spur to the elevator was added in 1883. The track is still present, and you can see that the lead curves around to the North. In a satellite image, you can easily see the track by the elevator.

Illinois and Michigan Canal Photo Tour posted
Nice pic from the 1930's of the canal at Seneca. The Hogan elevator is visible in the distance.

2009 Satellite

In the following, the red line indicates track that still exists at the end of people's yards. The blue indicates where the track has been removed, but the grade was left intact and it has become overgrown with trees. And the yellow indicates where the spur's grade has been completely removed by road and parking lot construction.

2009 Satellite

Where the red and blue lines intersect, these are the views looking south and a little east of North.

Stepping to the east and looking North, we have a better view of the old embankment part. And the small image is a view of the other end of the embankment part looking from across the road whose construction has removed the spur's grade.

Near Main Street along the former Rock Island (now CSX operated) main line is the current grain elevator. You can see that grain shipment is still an important part of this regions economy.

And what says farm community like a sprayer driving up Main Street?

Christopher J. May posted two photos with the comment:

MJ Hogan Grain Elevator - Seneca, IL
One of the oldest grain elevators I've photographed. This one dates to 1861-62. Photographed with a 1920s era Korona 8x10 view camera using a 1953 Kodak Commercial Ektar Lens.

Dennis DeBruler It is older than 1861. Note Larry's comment in this post indicates a build date of 1857. I've read that it was originally built as a grain warehouse. The "ditch" in the foreground is the remnants of the I&M Canal. Grain was stored and shipped in bags before the railroads forced the invention of bulk storage and the leg elevator. I wonder if 1861 is when a leg was installed and it was converted from a warehouse to an elevator.
https://www.facebook.com/.../a.478499.../746635042041853/...
Dennis DeBruler https://www.google.com/.../@41.3149178,-88.../data=!3m1!1e3
Jerry Krug http://www.illinoisadventuretv.org/index.asp?page=st...

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Illinois and Michigan Canal Photo Tour posted
Wishing all of you a joyous season and thanks for viewing this page!

Trail View, Jul 2023

William Walper posted seven photos of the grain elevator.
Jennie Deck Severson Just an fyi...the grain elevator is not totally abandoned. It is still used as the backdrop for many many pictures, especially prom. Also they do offer tours I believe every Saturday if anyone is interested in seeing inside or learning it's history.

Matt Tabak posted a photo that shows a lot of side boards missing. But the comments indicate it is opened on occasion including tours during Shipyard Days.

Sam Love posted eight photos with the comment: "Finally saw the inside of the Civil War-era grain elevator in Seneca, IL this weekend. Our guide had stories about sneaking in and shooting pigeons when he was a lad. Although quiet and reeking of rat piss today the place still gives a sense how noisy and hectic it would have been when it opened in 1862."

Paul Petraitis shared

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Wesley Peters posted four photos with the comment:

Seneca, La Salle County, IL.

John Armour Warehouse. Built in 1861-1862. 70,000-bushel capacity. Features a limestone foundation. The corn crib was built sometime in the 1930's.

One of two surviving terminal style headhouses left in Illinois. Last remaining wooden grain elevator along the Illinois-Michigan Canal.

Photographed on 10/27/2024.

Photos courtesy of Wesley Peters.

Roger Gorski: When corn was still stored... on the cob. Those walls wood never be strong enough to store grain like corn in kernels.

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Dennis DeBruler commented on Roger's comment
When it was built, it stored shelled corn, but in bags. That is why it is called a warehouse instead of an elevator. This view shows the Illinois & Michigan Canal remnants next to the building. That canal is why this building exists. Grain was shipped on canals and rivers in bags, and the farmer did not get paid until the bags were delivered to their final destination. Storing and shipping grain in bulk and paying the farmer on delivery to an elevator was developed by the railroads. https://maps.app.goo.gl/7apryCKGTQn9zwW37
[Facebook had a technical error when I submitted my comment.]

Wesley Peter posted five photos with a similar comment as above. The new photo is:

Additional Photo

Dennis DeBruler commented on Wesley's post
You can still see the I&M Canal next to the elevator, https://maps.app.goo.gl/HZAVraQx8CpCgh496. The Rock Island spur that was added to reach the elevator is mostly gone. In addition to a storage elevator up by the railroad, https://maps.app.goo.gl/DCktQMR8JVbLoFGk8; the town also has an elevator for loading barges down by the Illinois River: https://maps.app.goo.gl/LSELAuFTCbnu2uzi7. That makes it easy for the area farmers to ship to the Gulf of Mexico.