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Document 34 –


Resolution to Loan a Sum of Money to Finance the
Construction of a Hotel at La Salle
 

March 5, 1849
 

Document 34
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Transcription

           Monday March 5. 1849.       
The Treasurer submitted following preamble & resolution.
     Whereas representations, have been made to the Board
of Trustees, of great inconvenience experienced by Passengers
arriving at La Salle for want of suitable Hotels for their
accommodation, in consequence of which, they are compelled
to go to Peru, and whereas the lands and lots at La
Salle are chiefly owned by the Trustees, and in the opinion
of the Bard and also of individuals, the value of the
lands and lots would be greatly enhanced in value by the
erection of a Hotel. and whereas Isaac Hardy has offered
to build a Hotel suitable for the purposes aforesaid
provided he can obtain a loan of money from the Board
of Trustees for that purpose, therefore, in view of advan-
tages contemplated, resolved, that a loan of four thousand
dollars be made to said Isaac Hardy for the period
of three years with interest at seven per cent payable semi-
annually, provided the security offered by said Hardy
shall be approved by the Board of Trustees

Signed in New York by D. Leavitt March 5th 1849      D Leavitt
Signed in Washington by W H Swift March 7, 1849
                                                          W.H.Swift
Signed in Chicago, March 20th 1849.     Joseph B Wells

Explanation

When the canal was completed in 1848 its commerce brought more prosperity to La Salle than it did to Peru. Although the waters of the canal actually flowed into the Illinois River at Peru, La Salle was the real transfer point for goods and passengers between canal boats and river steamboats. The basin built at La Salle was where goods and passengers were on and offloaded. A channel from that basin extended to Peru (see document 17) where it flowed into the Illinois.

Peru first had been platted in 1834 and a small hotel had been built there as early as 1836. Under a plan for a general system of internal improvements which the state put forward in 1837 a railroad was to intersect with the canal and cross the Illinois River at Peru. When the state floundered in debt in the early forties Peru suffered badly. Many of the canal and railroad laborers left to seek work elsewhere. Some remained and farmed the surrounding countryside. When canal construction resumed in 1845, Peru prospered again. It was the trade center for a radius of some one hundred miles. But when the canal was opened to navigation in the spring of 1848 commerce shifted to La Salle. In June of 1849 a cholera epidemic killed hundreds and forced others to flee Peru. The National Hotel, Peru’s largest and finest building, was destroyed by fire in August 1849.

Isaac Hardy had been the contractor who had built the steamboat basin and channel at La Salle (see document 18). He went on to construct the Hardy House, La Salle’s first substantial hotel, a project he financed with the loan specified in this document. Increasing numbers of passengers required overnight accommodations as they traveled back and forth over the I and M.

Points To Consider

What did this resolution provide for?

Why was a hotel needed at La Salle in March of 1849?

How was it in the interests of the canal trustees to finance the construction of a hotel at La Salle?

Who was Isaac Hardy (see also document 17, document 18, and document 24)?

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