New Harvest on the Prairie (1970s)

[Music] the road from bureau Junction to Hennepin Illinois cuts through the lowlands beside the Illinois River flooded naturally and by man-made dikes it is a duck hunters paradise with swaps and Knowles all the way to the bridge at Hennepin the river itself fills a dual role as a stream of Commerce and a playground for boatman and fisherman on the east side of the river beyond the crest of the Hennepin bridge lyza flats gravel based plateau of sandy farmland known as the Hennepin Prairie as prairies go it is not large a little more than six thousand acres but for more than a century the Hennepin Prairie has provided harvests for the farmers of the territory today corn the traditional agricultural crop in the area gradually is being supplemented by the development of a vital new harvest on the Prairie a 150 million dollar steel mill the opening chip in Jones and Laughlin steel corporations bid for a major piece of the bountiful Midwestern steel market J&L a pittsburgh-based corporation bought the Prairie in 1965 and a bid to jump over its Midwestern competition into the path of the markets of the future the initial mill shown in the model will occupy only a small part of the six thousand acre site about 300 acres in the southwestern corner phase one to be housed in this building complex includes a five stand cold reduction mill and a sheep galvanizing line now under construction they'll be ready for action in the spring of 1968 from these facilities will come top-quality cold rolled steel sheets up to 80 inches in width and a diversified galvanized product line up to 60 inches in width meanwhile what's to become of the lush farms and the hard-working farmers and the village of Hennepin population 391 can rural America and heavy industry exists side-by-side in harmony this study in contrasts has stirred the imaginations of sociologists news reporters housing developers and the general public as the story unfolds [Music] and up and faces away from the lush farmlands toward the river and as ever conscious of its heritage as a River town in the 1600s Father Hennepin and Father Joliet stopped to trade with the Indians on the east bank of the Illinois River at what later became Hennepin the first building erected by white men in 1817 was a trading post during the steamboat era of the 1800s the village boomed as a port of call the principal businesses in Hennepin today are two grain elevators which discharged corn into waiting barges for river transport Ford bhaiyyaji farmed the Hennepin Prairie thirty-three years before jnl arrived today he is one of more than a dozen local farmers in partnership with JL they have about 2,000 acres in corn another 200 in hay and other crops and more than 800 acres devoted to grazing land all under the eye of a local farmer who doubles as JN else farm manager as construction forces started gathering ford and other farmers got to know many of the workers as their paths crossed during the day [Music] and across the road in Hennepin youngsters still tussled in the playground adults had picnics in the park the school baseball players carried on as usual unmindful of the roar of diesel engines rafting across the Prairie in apin is a quiet town but a proud one it has two churches Catholic and Methodist it is still free enough of traffic that a child crosses the road without real danger [Music] out on the Prairie after site grading trucks began pouring 165 thousand cubic yards of concrete for the foundations for the heavy mill equipment this concrete pad the base for the five stand cold mill is 5 feet thick and contains six thousand cubic yards of concrete row upon row of foundations for mill columns dotted the work area and as work progressed on J&L spark the people of the territory were also on the move several farmers who had owned property on the Prairie made arrangements with jnl to buy back their houses and then moved them to new locations some to the village some to other farm areas some of the owners exchanged their property for new farms further west others retired to watch the industrial transformation many of the farms had been operated by tenant farmers and jnl offered every tenant on the property a chance to continue farming alongside the growing mill building a steel mill involves planning in advance for protecting the quality of air and water a mile deep well was drilled on the property to dispose of waste acids air velocity and direction were sampled dust fall was measured and the water of the Illinois River was tested on a continuing basis hennepin is proud of its school system although small only 13 in its last senior class most of its graduates went on to college with the coming of industry people realize that better education could be obtained over a wider area with a benefit of a broad industrial tax base shortly after jnl announced its plans a countywide single school system was organized one group of high school students interested in science heard about JLS plan to survey the site for archaeological artifacts a study being conducted by the Illinois State Museum several of the students volunteered to conduct a dig than the 14 Indian mounds found by museum archeologists in a remote corner of the property early that first summer they spent a week among the mosquitoes their loot was both disappointing and promising one Arrowhead and five broken pieces of pottery but the scientists have earmarked other areas on the site for additional digging meanwhile on the construction site digging proceeded at a different level this mainline storm sewer will be as much as 40 feet underground other lines were also being laid more than seven miles of railroad track were required to serve the site during construction and a gas line was run from the north side of the Illinois River underneath the river up the steep hills on the south side and more than three miles inland across the Prairie to the jnl work area another major project there's an elaborate water and waste treatment system capable of taking more than seven and a half million gallons of water a day from the river cleaning it using it in the mills cleaning it again and returning it to the river the plant has been designed so all industrial wastewater no matter where it originates must pass through the waste treatment plant jnl officials have stated flatly that the plant operations will not adversely affect the quality of the river water this means recreational uses of the river may continue unchanged motor boating and fishing enthusiasts may pursue their activities and the duck hunters are expected to continue their fall pilgrimages to the river swamplands undisturbed by the frenetic activity on the construction site less than a mile away J&L is planting for a new crop on this Midwestern Prairie and its harvest will complement the corn soybeans and other crops which have been sown on the Illinois countryside for generations [Music] [Music] [Music] yes the farmer who stood on this lawn and gazed across the head of an Prairie will never again see this sight this is what he sees now there will be many changes affecting Hennepin but the village has solid roots Putnam County with Hennepin as its county seat once was the largest county in Illinois the beautiful courthouse is the oldest County Courthouse in continuous use in the state Abraham Lincoln is said to have practice there as a young lawyer this heritage has played an important role in providing inspiration for the future as jnl and the community look ahead to the new harvest on the Hennepin Prairie