Manteno, Illinois - Land of Contrasts South of Chicagoland (Part 1)
A few months ago, I started thinking about Labor Day weekend plans. It has been a while since I went on one of the exploratory trips and visited some place I've never known - and Labor Day weekend seemed like as good of an occasion as any. During the summer, my finances got a bit tighter, but I figured that I could save money and pull it off.
Originally, I planned to explore Hamilton, a once-thriving Indiana town that got left behind when railroads bypassed it completely. And for a while, it looked like it was going to work - I got a bit more money than expected, and I figured that I might as well use it. But over the past two weeks, there have been signs that my finances are about to get even tighter. At this point, it's too early to say whether or not the signs bear out, but every instinct it my body urged me to play it safe. Traveling to Hamilton would take too much money for comfort. But I still wanted to do something - and, after brainstorming some potential destinations, I decided to check out something I've considered visiting back in 2011 but never got around to.
Geography-wise, Village of Manteno is in a pretty interesting position. It's a northern suburb of the city of Kankakee, but it's also not that terribly far from southern edges of Chicagoland six-county region. Plenty of people have commented on economic, political and cultural differences between Chicagoland and the rest of Illinois. Manteno is definitely part of "the rest of Illinois," but it's the part I could easily reach by public transit. I was curious to see how much of it was stereotypically "downstate" and whether or not being (relatively) close to Chicagoland influenced it in any way.
The results weren't quite what I expected.
Getting There
Compared to a lot of my trip, getting there was fairly simple and straight-forward. I boarded Metra Electric train and took it all the way to the end of the line - the University Park station.
Once I got off the train, the first thing that struck me was the open land all around it. University Park's residential areas are further south and east - for the most part, residents reach the station by car or bus. Which is why the station has two large parking lots.
An underground passageway connects the parking lots of the station. The structure was built in the 70s, a time when station designs tended to be utilitarian - and it shows.
The bus station was located in the east parking lot. Once again - pretty utilitarian design.
The bus I was looking for was already there. River Valley Metro, a Kankeee area bus system, operates a commuter shuttle between University Village and downtown Manteno. On Saturdays, it runs every two hours in each direction, arriving in time to connect with Chicago-bound trains and leaving after the passengers from University Park bound trains get off.
For most Chicagoland residents, Chicagoland ends where cornfields begin. Most of Illinois is still, for the most part, an agricultural state - and, once the bus got off, it wasn't that long until I got to see it first-hand.
But it wasn't all corn fields. There were some patches of forest.
And a small municipality or two
The commuter shuttle makes two stops - one downtown and one in the park-and-ride facility on the southern edge of the villages. Confusingly enough, both of them are officially called "Manteno Metro Centre." I decided to get off downtown.
Sights, Memorials and Weird Contrasts
The downtown transit center is basically a bus shelter with some bike racks and a small plaza-type space. According to the plaque on the shelter wall, the structure was fairly recent - it was completed in May 20, 2013.
There's a railroad track right behind the transit center. The Metra Electric line may stop at University Park, but the freight/Amtrak tracks continue further, reaching all the way to New Orleans. You can still take the train to the end, but you wouldn't be able to catch it here - you'd need to take two more buses to Kankakee Amtrak station.
When you get off the train, there is a nice little crosswalk that lets visitors walk right over to the Main Street commercial corridor.
Downtown Manteno was developed at the time when train was king, so its main commercial corridor was built right by the train tracks, so it would be the first thing the passengers see when they get off. The way the bus station is positioned, you get the same effect. Well, maybe not quite the same effect (since you'd still need to cross the tracks) but it definitely makes an impression.
And if the storefronts don't catch your attention, the lightpoles and banners along the sidewalk definitely will
Those banners line the entire commercial part of Main Street. From beginning to end. The village definitely didn't skimp on a tourism budget.
Usually, a visitor center is a good place to get some information about the village. Prior Internet search revealed that the local Chamber of Commerce doubled as a visitor center. But, to my disappointment, it didn't have any maps, brochures for local museums or anything else that might hint of what it's there to do - just services and meetings info for local residents.
As I excited the community center, something caught my attention past the north end of the Main Street commercial area
Built by the local American Legion post, it seems to have started out as a World War I memorial.
But as other wars came and went, they added markets to commemorate veterans of other conflicts.
Across the street, I saw a house with a star displayed above the entrance. My mind immediately jumped to "Red Army," but then I realized that American army used stars, too.
I went back to Main Street, walking further south, past the commercial district. There were some houses.
A parking lot with a car that made me think of vladiatorr
And a nice park
But ultimately, I decided to follow the signs and head to the local library. Maybe they would have a map, or some tourist information.
Along the way, I ran into a business that seemed a bit out of place with the "all-American small town" image Manteno was trying to project.
Turned out that they didn't have any tourist-type information - but they had a display dedicated to Chicago style books.
Unlike most Chicagoland libraries, Manteno library didn't restrict its computers to patrons. So I took advantage, checking my e-mail and looking up a couple of potential destinations. After waiting out the rain, I headed northwest, through what seemed like the older section of the village.
As I turned north, I walked past a memorial park. After the American Legion memorial, I started to get a feeling that this was something of a theme.
A few street down, I stopped by my first destination - the headquarters of the local historical society. I knew from my search at the library that it was only open on first Saturdays of every month, so I didn't expect to get in, but I wanted to at least see what it's like on the outside.
I kept going.
Some of those homes were larger than others
Meanwhile, this looked like a typical Chicago split-level (where a house is split into several different apartments). I'm not sure if it was, though - the number of mailboxes is usually a dead giveaway, and I didn't stop to count them.
One resident put up this sign on the front yard. According to an article from a local newspaper, it was his way of expressing displeasure with Manteno government building a new Village Hall and a new park. No, I don't get it either.
I read up a bit on Manteno's economy before the trip, and I found out that several retailers have distribution centers in the area. It's not entirely clear how many Manteno residents work there, but I figured at least some of them did. So I wasn't surprised to find out this this home...
...Was a proud union home.
Another historic home
My second destination was the village high school. I expected an older structure. Instead, I found something more modern, another case of function over form
As I headed north, the sidewalk just...stopped, only to resume at the next intersection. What the heck happened there?
As I kept going, a sign warned me that the road was going to narrow
Which it soon did
But I didn't expect it to suddenly turn into a farm road
There was corn on both sides
Before long, I saw what I assume is the house of the family that owns the fields
As I kept walking, I saw another cluster of houses further northwest. It turned out to be a variation on stereotypical post-50s suburbia
Soon, I reached the northern outskirts of Manteno
And the park that the homeowner with a rude sign complained about
Since this was pretty much the northern edge of Manteno, I headed east. But what I saw next surprised me.
A mobile home park.
It's called Sunny Acres, and, as far as mobile home parks go, it didn't seem too bad. Not at all.
I found another union home
As I left Sunny Acres, I saw something much more expensive right across the street.
Westshore Manor - a decisively more upscale development
Seriously - look at those houses
All this is across the street from a mobile home park. I know I've talked about how Chicago neighborhoods can change quickly and without warning, but even I got a whiplash from this contrast.
I wasn't able to find any info on Westshore Manor, but I can guess that it got its name because the homes are built along the west shore of Lake Manteno.
I could see why the houses were as large as they are - people would be willing to pay lots of money to live in a house with a lake in their backyard.
Or, heck, a private beach in their backyard
I decided to try to take a walk around the lake. Along the way, I ran into a house that may be owned by a Kankakee County sheriff
And an oddly shaped home I wasn't really sure what to make of.
What I didn't realize until later was that Lake Manteno was basically split into two lakes - the bigger main lake and the smaller lake. This is the south end of a smaller lake.
Imagine sitting on a swing, watching the sun reflect in the water as it sets.
A boat and a катамаран
Soon, I reached Main Street - the more industrial section further north. There was the Farmers Elevator Company grain elevator
Curwick Construction Co facilities
Local self-storage facilities
And what was, from what I've been able to gather, an ambulance company headquarters. Not entirely sure what it is now, or whether it's just been abandoned.
Walking further north, I came upon Manteno Sportsmen's Club
As it turned out, the decent chunk of the eastern shore of Lake Manteno was their property. Including a beach. So all I could do was take a picture of it through the fence.
Like all clubs, Manteno Sportsmen's Club doesn't let just anyone on their property. Applying for membership is a complicated process, and according to their website, they cap the number of members at a certain point to make sure it doesn't grow too large.
So, basically, Manteno has a lake where every single access point is someone's private property. Coming from a city where all beaches are free and open to everyone, this feels... disappointing.
And, on this note, I'm going to pause the trip log for now. I originally thought I would be able to fit everything in one post, but I underestimated just how many photos I had. But don't worry - I'm about 3/5ths of the way through, so it's not going to be as long as the New York trip log.
The trip log continues.