Ottawa, Illinois

==History==
[[File:La Salle Street, Looking North, Ottawa, IL.jpg|thumb|left|La Salle Street {{circa|1912}}]]
Ottawa occupies a place on the Illinois River that has long been one end of a portage trail between the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan.<ref name = CPHS/> Here the river was reliably deep enough for canoes.<ref name = CPHS>{{Cite web|url=http://drupal.library.cmu.edu/chicago/node/132|title=The Chicago Portage - Historical Synopsis {{!}} Chicago Portage|website=drupal.library.cmu.edu|language=en|access-date=2021-04-17}}</ref> The North Portage Trail connected the site over land and water to the Chicago River.<ref name = CPHS/>

Ottawa was the site of the first of the [[Lincoln–Douglas debates]] on August 21, 1858. During the Ottawa debate, [[Stephen A. Douglas]], leader of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], openly accused [[Abraham Lincoln]] of forming a secret bipartisan group of Congressmen to bring about the abolition of [[slavery]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/liho/learn/historyculture/debate1.htm |title=First Debate with Stephen A. Douglas at Ottawa, Illinois  |access-date=2008-11-01 |work=Lincoln Home National Historic Site |publisher=National Park Service }}</ref>

The [[John Hossack House]] was a "station" on the [[Underground Railroad]], and Ottawa was a major stop because of its rail, road, and river transportation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nps.gov/history/nr/travel/underground/states.htm |title=List of Sites for the Underground Railroad |access-date=2008-11-01 |work=Aboard the Underground Railroad |publisher=National Park Service }}</ref> Citizens in the city were active within the [[Abolitionism in the United States|abolitionist movement]]. Ottawa was the site of a famous 1859 extrication of a runaway slave named Jim Gray from a courthouse by prominent civic leaders of the time. Three of the civic leaders, John Hossack, Dr. Joseph Stout and James Stout, later stood trial in Chicago for violating the [[Fugitive Slave Act of 1850]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.johnhossack.com/jimgray.htm |title=The Jim Gray Case |access-date=2008-11-01 |work=John Hossack website |publisher=Jay W. Preston }}</ref>

Ottawa was also important in the development of the [[Illinois and Michigan Canal]], which terminates in [[LaSalle, Illinois]], 12 miles to the west. In 1838, workmen from the canal project were causing public unrest.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=http://libsysdigi.library.uiuc.edu/OCA/Books2010-01/historysignifica00spra/historysignifica00spra.pdf|title=History, Significance, and Feasibility for Adaptive Use of the William Reddick Mansion at Ottawa, Illinois|last1=Sprague|first1=Paul E|last2=Dring|first2=William B.|publisher=University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign|year=1975|location=Ottawa Illinois|pages=1–150}}</ref> During a citizens' meeting, a local political leader, Washington Armstrong, suggested that farmer [[William Reddick (politician)|William Reddick]] be elected [[Sheriffs in the United States|sheriff]].<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/PDFs/124473.pdf|title=Reddick's Library|last=Catlin|first=Betty|publisher=Illinois Historic Preservation Agency|year=1971|pages=3–8}}</ref> Reddick was a popular choice due to his large stature and courageous manner.<ref name=":0" /> Reddick was [[Elected government|elected]] by a large majority and held the office of sheriff for four consecutive two-year terms.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://lasallecounty.org/lasalle-county-sheriff-william-reddick/|title=LaSalle County Sheriff William Reddick|date=August 2016|website=LaSalle County Genealogy Guild|access-date=3 December 2019}}</ref> In 1855, while serving in the [[Illinois Senate|Illinois State Senate]], Reddick commissioned the construction of a large [[Italianate architecture|Italianate]] house for the then-large sum of $25,000 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US-GDP|value=25000|start_year=1855}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US-GDP}}).<ref name=":1" /> [[William Reddick (politician)|Reddick Mansion]] is now one of the largest surviving homes in Illinois to predate the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. In 1973, the mansion was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]], as part of the [[Washington Park Historic District (Ottawa, Illinois)|Washington Park Historic District]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893395|title=Illinois SP Washington Park Historic District|date=1973|website=National Park Service|access-date=3 December 2019}}</ref>

On February 8, 1910, [[William D. Boyce|William Dickson Boyce]], then a resident of Ottawa, incorporated the [[Boy Scouts of America]]. Five years later, also in Ottawa, Boyce incorporated the [[Lone Scouts of America]]. Boyce is buried in [[Ottawa Avenue Cemetery]]. The Ottawa Scouting Museum, on Canal Street, opened to the public on December 6, 1997. The museum features the history of Boy Scouting, Girl Scouting and Camp Fire.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ottawascoutingmuseum.org/ |title=Ottawa Scouting Museum |access-date=2008-11-02 |work=Ottawa Scouting Museum website |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081106124926/http://www.ottawascoutingmuseum.org/ |archive-date=2008-11-06 }}</ref>

In 1922, the [[Radium Dial Company]] (RDC) moved from [[Peru, Illinois]] to a former high school building in Ottawa. The company employed hundreds of women, the 2017 book Radium Girls by Kate Moore reveal that one of these employees were only 11 years of age. These women painted watch dials using a paint called "LUMA", which contained a compound of Zns(Ag) (Silver activated Zinc Sulfide) and powdered Radium, for watch maker [[Westclox]]. RDC went out of business in 1936, two years after the company's president, Joseph Kelly Sr., left to start a competing company, Luminous Processes Inc., a few blocks away. The employees of the company suffered radiation toxicity, as chronicled in the 1986 documentary, ''Radium City''.