When traveling by foot, horse or water, one would do well living close to work.
John Heck, a contractor on the Illinois and Michigan Canal, built his limestone home in 1867 within walking distance of the historic waterway.
A historic landmark within the I&M Canal National Heritage Corridor, the nation’s first national corridor, the Heck House at 1225 S. Hamilton St. in Lockport was surrounded by open land and vineyards.
Today it remains a private residence, yet one that definitely stands out in the subdivision.
“The house stands as a monument to the grand houses of that era, which were built by businessmen involved with building and managing the I&M Canal, which was headquartered in Lockport,” said Ron Lif, correspondence secretary of the Lockport Area Genealogical & Historical Society. “The house is considered of the Greek revival style and is made of locally quarried limestone most likely brought to Lockport on the I&M Canal from Joliet.”
The foundation and walls are constructed of rock-faced limestone, with the rear of the house facing the canal where limestone was unearthed. Dressed limestone also surrounds the front door.
“From drawings we have of the home in the 1870s, the front of the home faced the west, which is now the rear of the home,” he added. “When the home was built, it was the only building on the block. Mr. Heck owned the land between State Street and Hamilton Street and from 12th Street to 13th Street, with the home on the southeast corner of that block. It is said that the land around the house contained a number of vineyards.”
Italianate woodwork decorates the interior. The two-story home has a walk-in basement that originally included servants’ quarters and a dumbwaiter from the kitchen to the dining room above.
The Heck House, which was entered into the National Register of Historic Places in 1994, has changed hands many times over the past century and a half.
It was a boarding house in the 1920s. In the 1940s it was converted into apartments for an influx of workers from a Wilmington munitions plant during the war. The Heck House became the Liberty Inn, a bed and breakfast, in the ’90s.
“When we first moved in, a few people would stop in and want to see it, thinking it was a bed and breakfast or a museum,” said Laura Oremus, a real estate agent and managing broker at Coldwell Banker Honig-Bell in Lockport who lived there from 1999 to 2013. “There’s not another house like it. You feel the character of the house and how many hands have gone up and down that banister.”
The house is true to its original design except for a small rear addition in 1946 allowing for a bathroom on the first floor.
Oremus said she was drawn to the Heck House for its original character, including the 18-inch-thick limestone exterior and fireplaces surrounded by marble in the library and parlor. A finished attic provides four floors of living space, she said.
“Something very unique was it had the original windows with wavy glass and 12-feet-tall shutters inside that closed all the way up,” she added.
Vickie Jurkowski is a freelance writer.
John Heck House
Building size: 4,700 square feet
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What’s in a name? John Heck, a wealthy businessman who emigrated from Canada to Will County in 1838 to capitalize on the booming economy from construction of the Illinois and Michigan Canal and served as a contractor.
Building age: Built in 1867
Original use: A residence for John Heck and his wife
Current use: Private residence for the Hauer family
Did you know? When Heck passed away in 1890, he left the estate to an unmarried niece, who sold it three months later.