The Meeting of the Waters
Channahon's name comes from a Potawatomi phrase meaning 'meeting of the waters,' and the village sits at the confluence of the Des Plaines, Kankakee, and DuPage rivers, which join there to form the Illinois River. Canal construction began in the area in 1836, and Channahon was chosen as the site of two Illinois and Michigan Canal locks, with a dam built on the DuPage River to raise its level enough to feed the canal. Myrvin Benjamin planned a new settlement at the site in 1845, first called 'Du Page'; it was officially named Channahon in 1850, prospered on canal trade through the 1870s, and was first incorporated as a village in 1896 -- though that charter was dissolved in 1908 after a lawsuit following a bridge failure that dropped an automobile into the DuPage River. The Village of Channahon was reincorporated on December 11, 1961.
Living at a Three-River Confluence
Few communities in the region have a more literal relationship with water than a village whose name translates to 'meeting of the waters' and whose site was chosen for two canal locks and a dam. That confluence geography means Channahon properties can be influenced by three separate river systems at once, and Will County's regional stormwater planning points to basement flooding and sewer backup as the typical way that kind of exposure shows up in a home, rather than dramatic surface flooding.
Project Paths
Planning a Basement Waterproofing Project Near Channahon's River Confluence
A responsible scope for a Channahon property should ask which of the three rivers -- or which stretch of the old canal and dam system -- is most likely influencing the water table on that specific lot before recommending interior or exterior work.