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Untitled
(Plan for Indiana & Michigan Canals, the Extension of Three Piers into Lake Michigan)
By:
Anonymous
Date:
Unknown (circa 1857 - 1863)
Dimensions:
17.75 x 26.25 inches (45.1 x 66.7 cm)
This manuscript map is a conglomeration of proposals that would facilitate the construction of
two separate docking canals and three piers along the Chicago lakefront just north of the main
branch of the Chicago River. The motivation for such a plan is to increase Chicago’s capacity
and effectiveness as a center for industry. The plan would allow docking access for many more
ships carrying goods and raw materials. These ships would be able to unload their cargo for
continued transportation via river barges or railroad lines heading west and south to supply other
cities and frontier settlements.
Several buildings are indicated throughout the map, most of which are labeled. The land south
of the river labels all important buildings within the Illinois Central Railroad Depot, comprising
two grain houses, freight and passenger houses and a marine hospital (established in 1852) for
sick and disabled sailors. Buildings north of the river include the Galena & Chicago Union
Railroad grain house, the Lake House, and three unnamed buildings that with the help of the
Chicago Harbor & Bar
map of 1871 can be identified as (from left to right)
Carpenter’s,
McCormick’s Reaper Factory
, and the
Beebe & Lyon Foundry.
The major challenge with describing and dating this map is to separate merely proposed
elements from those that actually existed. While structures like the swing bridge at the mouth of
the river and off shore break walls are specifically labeled as proposed, other elements such as
the dashed railroad line and various lots within the eastern end of the piers are to be assumed as
proposed. So the solid lot lines and borders of blocks 8, 19, and 20 are shown to exist as fact
when there are no other historical records of their existence. According to this map, they are in
the same location as the recently shortened street of Seneca which would have had to have been
removed for this part of the map to be true. There are simply no records of this as Seneca Street
appears in maps both before and after the estimated date of this map.
In blue ink the lakeshore is delineated at the time of 1857 according to two separate sources with
depth soundings extending into the lake. Since the dashed lines appear east of the established
lakeshore and the solid lines appear inland, one can only assume that the solid lines represent
part of the proposal at the time the map was made. Therefore the dashed lines would represent
future plans to extend the piers and canals by adding more land.
Condition:
Minor separations along folds. Staining from adhesive is visible where two sheets
were joined. Map displays lovely contemporary hand coloring.