A River Runs Through It

Chicago is an incredible city, on the shores of Lake Michigan, and did you know - a river flows through it - the Chicago River, and guess what ... the Chicago River flows backwards!

 "Water color" rendition of photograph by Claudia Ward, 2010, All Rights Reserved 

Straight Dope Chicago explains,

"Chicago in the old days drew its fresh water from Lake Michigan and emptied its sewage into the Chicago River. The river then flowed into the lake. You can see where this might lead to trouble ...  Chicago is close to the continental divide separating the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River basin. The Illinois & Michigan Canal, a somewhat dinky affair, had been dug to connect the two waterways for navigational purposes in 1848. Forty years later sanitary engineers realized that if they dug a much deeper canal (in the event, 21 feet deep) and made it slope slightly west, the Chicago River would empty into the Des Plaines River and thence the Illinois and the Mississippi, keeping the city's sewage out of Lake Michigan. Work on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal began in 1889 and was completed in 1900", thus reversing the river's flow. "The S&S Canal was, and still is, considered a masterpiece of civil engineering. It had just two defects in the eyes of its opponents: (1) it sent all of Chicago's crap sluicing down to St. Louis, and (2) it threatened to drain the lake ..." 

The legal battle between Chicago and St.Louis resulted in St. Louis being required to build a filtration plant, and locks were built to retain water levels in the lake. Today, the Lake and River are clean and great sources of beauty and recreation for this beautiful city.

Comments

[Claudia]

The joys of digital photography, Barbara - you take a gazillion pictures and one or two really work. This photo was taken from a moving double decker bus!

[Claudia Ward]

Rarely my friend. I wish we were. The original photo, in fact, was taken from a moving bus.

Sent from my iPhone

[Barbara]

Love it. Are you always in the right place at the right time?

[Claudia Ward]

Next trip, Paul.

Sent from my iPhone

[Paul Angotta]

All who go to Chicago should catch a game at Wrigley Field - a perfect ball park. And you must have a sausage and pepper hero - awesome.