Waukegan Power Plant

The Waukegan Power Plant is located a mile north of Waukegan on the Lake Michigan lakeshore. It is a coal burning electric generating facility operated by the Integrys Energy Group.

EJ&E Railroad engine 703 (above) leads a UP coal train to the Waukegan Power Plant.

Photo by Jeff Easton in 2007 and posted on Railroadforums.com

Until recently, fishermen were allowed to use the pier near the plant. The power plant uses water from Lake Michigan to cool the steam used in the generating process. The water is returned to the lake via a discharge channel, and is warmer than the lake water, which in turn attracts fish. There are now "no fishing" signs posted.

The county's first electric generating coal plant was the Waukegan Electric Light Company. It was founded by Michael Hussey about 1905. Hussey was known as the coal baron of northern Illinois in those early years of the 20th century.

North Shore Electric Company linemen, 1906 (above). At this time, electric service was available only to people in towns, and generally from dusk to dawn. Front row: Bob Jenkinson, Charlie Kreuser, John Riddle (Zion), George Hecksweiler, C. Voss; Back row: Mr. Brooks (Zion), George Jenkinson (Waukegan), Dennis Murphy (Waukegan)

In 1923, Hussey’s company was bought out by Samuel Insull’s Public Service Company of Northern Illinois.

In the early 1910s, Insull set about revolutionizing the availability of electric service. Lake County was his home base and where he set his plans in motion by buying out small, independent power plants. He ran transmission lines and centralized the service, and was able to provide 24-hour electric service to thousands of homes and farms. 

Samuel Insull (1859-1938), founder of Commonwealth Edison. 

His former home is the Cuneo Museum in Vernon Hills, IL.

The Public Service Company of Northern Illinois became Commonwealth Edison, and then Exelon. Several years ago Exelon sold the Waukegan power plant to the Integrys Energy Group.

Power Plant workers, circa 1935. Dunn Museum, 2007.12

In 2007, the museum received a donation of nearly 60 photographs of the Waukegan Power Plant from a private donor. The photos are of plant employees in their daily tasks, posing candidly for the camera, and date from the 1930s to 1970s. 

W. McCoy at a power plant control panel, circa 1970.  Dunn Museum, 2007.12

The images are remarkable because they document the power plant's workforce. Most candid photographs tend to be taken of people on vacation or at special events and gatherings. It is far less common for people to take photographs at work, making this collection all the more fascinating.

Herman Genkinger and Richard "Red" Mathews, 1950. Dunn Museum, 2007.12

Safety award, 1960. Left to right: Vern Stone, Joe Shrank, Murray Joslyn, L. Stang, A. Johnson, George Kreu, P. Root, Bob Lundberg, H. Otto, and K. Leisner. Dunn Museum 2007.12.

North Shore Line

One of the most famous railroads in the Chicago region was the Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad—known as the North Shore Line. The railroad operated from 1916-1963, but began its life in 1894 as a street railway line in Waukegan.

After the company reorganized in 1916, industrial tycoon and founder of Commonwealth Edison, Samuel Insull, bought a controlling interest and served as its chairman for many years, transforming it into one of the finest electric interurban railways. The main line's southern terminus was in Evanston, Illinois and northern terminus in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

In 1941, the North Shore Line added premiere service trains called Electroliners. These trains could attain speeds of over 110 miles per hour, but generally traveled at 85-90 mph, and transported passengers from Chicago to Milwaukee in under two hours.

This beautiful 1920s photograph of North Shore Line tracks is part of a collection of photographs featuring the Chicago, North Shore and Milwaukee Railroad's automatic substations.

The completion of the Edens Expressway and the Northwest (now Kennedy) Expressway in the 1950s and 1960s, caused a sharp drop in passenger ridership, ultimately leading to the line's closure on January 21, 1963.

For over a decade, the right-of-way remained unused, but parts of it have since become the Green Bay Trail, now one of the most popular hiking and biking trails in the Chicago area.