A History of the Chicago Portage

A History of the Chicago Portage PDF Author: Benjamin Sells
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
ISBN: 0810143917
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

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Book Description
Seven muddy miles transformed a region and a nation This fascinating account explores the significance of the Chicago Portage, one of the most important—and neglected—sites in early US history. A seven-mile-long strip of marsh connecting the Chicago and Des Plaines Rivers, the portage was inhabited by the earliest indigenous people in the Midwest and served as a major trade route for Native American tribes. A link between the Mississippi River and the Atlantic Ocean, the Chicago Portage was a geopolitically significant resource that the French, British, and US governments jockeyed to control. Later, it became a template for some of the most significant waterways created in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The portage gave Chicago its name and spurred the city’s success—and is the reason why the metropolis is located in Illinois, not Wisconsin. A History of the Chicago Portage: The Crossroads That Made Chicago and Helped Make America is the definitive story of a national landmark.

A History of the Chicago Portage

A History of the Chicago Portage PDF Author: Benjamin Sells
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
ISBN: 0810143917
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 321

Get Book Here

Book Description
Seven muddy miles transformed a region and a nation This fascinating account explores the significance of the Chicago Portage, one of the most important—and neglected—sites in early US history. A seven-mile-long strip of marsh connecting the Chicago and Des Plaines Rivers, the portage was inhabited by the earliest indigenous people in the Midwest and served as a major trade route for Native American tribes. A link between the Mississippi River and the Atlantic Ocean, the Chicago Portage was a geopolitically significant resource that the French, British, and US governments jockeyed to control. Later, it became a template for some of the most significant waterways created in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The portage gave Chicago its name and spurred the city’s success—and is the reason why the metropolis is located in Illinois, not Wisconsin. A History of the Chicago Portage: The Crossroads That Made Chicago and Helped Make America is the definitive story of a national landmark.

Portage Park

Portage Park PDF Author: Daniel Pogorzelski
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 9780738552293
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description
In Chicago, it has long been common knowledge that the neighborhoods have been overshadowed by the Loop's luster. Portage Park is one of these hidden gems, offering up a wealth of history, culture, and art. As the site of a lesser-known Chicago Portage, the largest retail district outside the Loop at Six Corners, the visual backdrop of movies such as My Life and The Color of Money, and the spot where both Abraham Lincoln and John Dillinger legendarily stayed and the sister of the czar of Bulgaria prayed, this corner of Chicago has seen its share of glitz and glory. Discover Portage Park's architectural treasures, whether it is in its place as a part of Chicago's "Bungalow Belt," its wealth of notable buildings spanning different genres and time periods, or its beautiful churches and grand movie palaces. An area diverse in culture, many peoples, beginning with Native Americans and going onto the Yankees, Irish, Scandinavians, eastern Europeans, and even a Tibetan lama, have made Portage Park their home, each adding their own unique contribution to the vibrant cultural landscape. The site of the largest concentration of Chicago's legendary Polish population, it is also the place where immigrants left the inner city's ethnic enclaves to take part in the American dream.

The Chicago River

The Chicago River PDF Author: Libby Hill
Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press
ISBN: 080933707X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 330

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Book Description
In this social and ecological account of the Chicago River, Libby Hill tells the story of how a sluggish waterway emptying into Lake Michigan became central to the creation of Chicago as a major metropolis and transportation hub. This widely acclaimed volume weaves the perspectives of science, engineering, commerce, politics, economics, and the natural world into a chronicle of the river from its earliest geologic history through its repeated adaptations to the city that grew up around it. While explaining the river’s role in massive public works, such as drainage and straightening, designed to address the infrastructure needs of a growing population, Hill focuses on the synergy between the river and the people of greater Chicago, whether they be the tribal cultures that occupied the land after glacial retreat, the first European inhabitants, or more recent residents. In the first edition, Hill brought together years of original research and the contributions of dozens of experts to tell the Chicago River’s story up until 2000. This revised edition features discussions of disinfection, Asian carp, green strategies, the evolution of the Chicago Riverwalk, and the river’s rejuvenation. It also explores how earlier solutions to problems challenge today’s engineers, architects, environmentalists, and public policy agencies as they address contemporary issues. Revealing the river to be a microcosm of the uneasy relationship between nature and civilization, The Chicago River offers the tools and knowledge for the city’s residents to be champions on the river’s behalf.

The Mystery at Black Partridge Woods

The Mystery at Black Partridge Woods PDF Author: Pat Camalliere
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781937484446
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
A legendary water beast, mysterious wolves, and an unsolved murder echo through two centuries. Wawetseka, a Potawatomi woman, is shocked when a body washes up near her village, but events soon turn worse: her only son is arrested for murder. To free him she must track down the real killer. Her investigation takes her through the wilderness of 1817 northern Illinois and to Fort Dearborn as she races desperately, fighting the harsh terrain and the realities of vigilante justice. Two centuries later, Wawetseka's descendent, Nick Pokagon, a charismatic young scientist, partners with Cora Tozzi, Cisco, and Frannie to publish Wawetseka's adventures. But then Cora and her friends are attacked. What does Wawetseka's story have to do with the present? How can the mysterious assailant be stopped? The Mystery at Black Partridge Woods tells two related stories with unexpected parallels. It is both a fast-paced adventure and a mystery that paints a picture of the little-known earliest days of what is now Lemont, Illinois. Readers who enjoy amateur sleuths and adventure will find it hard to put down.

History of Portage County, Ohio

History of Portage County, Ohio PDF Author: Robert C. Brown
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Portage County (Ohio)
Languages : en
Pages : 954

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Book Description


The Mystery at Sag Bridge

The Mystery at Sag Bridge PDF Author: Pat Camalliere
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781937484309
Category : Cemeteries
Languages : en
Pages : 328

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Book Description
A century-old murder mystery A dangerous ghost An amateur historian... What binds them together? Cora Tozzi is a retired businesswoman who, after nursing her mother through her final illness, wishes only for a peaceful orderly world in her suburban Chicago home. When an angry spirit begins to leave cryptic messages on her computer and threatens those around her, Cora is forced to dig into the town's notorious past to uncover secrets that will free the bonds that tie her and the spirit. With the help of her husband and their friend, Frannie, Cora uses her skills as an amateur historian in a search that takes them into unexpected terrain including subterranean passages, an eerie graveyard, and shadowy paths in isolated forests where a sinister predator is awakened. As they battle unpredictable supernatural powers, the story takes a poignant turn: the spirit's life is revealed, and both women, a century apart, examine threads into the past and the future, their loss and longing linked across the generations.

City of the Century

City of the Century PDF Author: Donald L. Miller
Publisher: Rosetta Books
ISBN: 0795339852
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1084

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Book Description
“A wonderfully readable account of Chicago’s early history” and the inspiration behind PBS’s American Experience (Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times). Depicting its turbulent beginnings to its current status as one of the world’s most dynamic cities, City of the Century tells the story of Chicago—and the story of America, writ small. From its many natural disasters, including the Great Fire of 1871 and several cholera epidemics, to its winner-take-all politics, dynamic business empires, breathtaking architecture, its diverse cultures, and its multitude of writers, journalists, and artists, Chicago’s story is violent, inspiring, passionate, and fascinating from the first page to the last. The winner of the prestigious Great Lakes Book Award, given to the year’s most outstanding books highlighting the American heartland, City of the Century has received consistent rave reviews since its publication in 1996, and was made into a six-hour film airing on PBS’s American Experience series. Written with energetic prose and exacting detail, it brings Chicago’s history to vivid life. “With City of the Century, Miller has written what will be judged as the great Chicago history.” —John Barron, Chicago Sun-Times “Brims with life, with people, surprise, and with stories.” —David McCullough, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of John Adams and Truman “An invaluable companion in my journey through Old Chicago.” —Erik Larson, New York Times–bestselling author of The Devil in the White City

Chicago by Day and Night

Chicago by Day and Night PDF Author: Paul Durica
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
ISBN: 0810129094
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Showcasing the first Ferris wheel, dazzling and unprece­dented electrification, and exhibits from around the world, the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 was Chicago’s chance to demonstrate that it had risen from the ashes of the Great Fire and was about to take its place as one of the world’s great cities. Millions would flock to the fair, and many of them were looking for a good time before and after their visits to the Midway and the White City. But what was the bedazzled visitor to do in Chicago? Chicago by Day and Night: The Pleasure Seeker’s Guide to the Paris of America, a very unofficial guide to the world be­yond the fair, slaked the thirst of such curious folk. The plea­sures it details range from the respectable (theater, architec­ture, parks, churches and synagogues) to the illicit—drink, gambling, and sex. With a wink and a nod, the book decries vice while offering precise directions for the indulgence of any desire. In this newly annotated edition, Chicagoans Paul Durica and Bill Savage—who, if born earlier, might have written chapters in the original—provide colorful context and an informative introduction to a wildly entertaining journey through the Chicago of 120 years ago.

The Tunnel under the Lake

The Tunnel under the Lake PDF Author: Benjamin Sells
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
ISBN: 9780810134744
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 200

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Book Description
The Tunnel under the Lake recounts the gripping story of how the young city of Chicago, under the leadership of an audacious engineer named Ellis Chesbrough, constructed a two-mile tunnel below Lake Michigan in search of clean water. Despite Chicago's location beside the world’s largest source of fresh water, its low elevation at the end of Lake Michigan provided no natural method of carrying away waste. As a result, within a few years of its founding, Chicago began to choke on its own sewage collecting near the shore. The befouled environment, giving rise to outbreaks of sickness and cholera, became so acute that even the ravages and costs of the U.S. Civil War did not distract city leaders from taking action. Chesbrough's solution was an unprecedented tunnel five feet in diameter lined with brick and dug sixty feet beneath Lake Michigan. Construction began from the shore as well as the tunnel’s terminus in the lake. With workers laboring in shifts and with clay carted away by donkeys, the lake and shore teams met under the lake three years later, just inches out of alignment. When it opened in March 1867, observers, city planners, and grateful citizens hailed the tunnel as the "wonder of America and of the world." Benjamin Sells narrates in vivid detail the exceptional skill and imagination it took to save this storied city from itself. A wealth of fascinating appendixes round out Sells’s account, which will delight those interested in Chicago history, water resources, and the history of technology and engineering.

History of Cook County, Illinois

History of Cook County, Illinois PDF Author: Alfred Theodore Andreas
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Chicago (Ill.)
Languages : en
Pages : 888

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Book Description