July 26, 2025
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29-star U.S. flag flies alongside canal toll collector’s office in Ottawa

Flag was provided by Ottawa Commissioner Brent Barron

By Charles Stanley
A replica 29-star U.S. flag was raised at the Illinois and Michigan Canal toll collector’s office in Ottawa on Tuesday, July 4, 2023, by (from left) Ottawa Canal Association volunteers Linda Roberts, Bob Eschbach and Arnie Bandstra. The flag was provided by Ottawa Commissioner Brent Barron.

A replica 29-star U.S. flag was raised at the Illinois and Michigan Canal toll collector’s office in Ottawa on Tuesday, July 4, 2023, by (from left) Ottawa Canal Association volunteers Linda Roberts, Bob Eschbach and Arnie Bandstra. The flag was provided by Ottawa Commissioner Brent Barron. (Charles Stanley for Shaw Media)

A 29-star U.S. flag now flies on the flagpole alongside the Illinois & Michigan Canal toll collector’s office in Ottawa.

The flag was provided by Ottawa City Commissioner Brent Barron. It was put on display Tuesday – the Fourth of July – after a ceremony by the Ottawa Canal Association.

This flag provides another authentic feature to the toll collector’s office.

—  Arnie Bandstra, canal association president

“This flag provides another authentic feature to the toll collector’s office,” said Arnie Bandstra, the canal association president. “We appreciate this gift from Commissioner Barron.”

The one year the 29-star flag design was in service coincided with the opening of the 96-mile canal between Chicago and La Salle in April of 1848.

New flag designs take effect on the Independence Day after a state’s admission to the union. Following the admission of Iowa on Dec. 28, 1846, the 29-star flag became official on Tuesday, July 4, 1847. After Wisconsin was admitted on May 29, 1848, a 30-star flag went into use on July 4, 1848.

Any officially approved American flag, no matter the design, may be used until no longer serviceable. The toll house flag pole is illuminated so a U.S. flag can be flown at night.

The canal association, along with the Ottawa Historical and Scouting Heritage Museum and Reddick Mansion, will host Canal Day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 8, featuring a number of activities along the canal and at the participating museums.