DOCSLIB.ORG

Illinois Waterway: Its 310 Year History.” the Waterways Journal Weekly

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Illinois Waterway: Its 310 Year History.” the Waterways Journal Weekly “Illinois Waterway: Its 310 Year History.” The Waterways Journal Weekly. (August 27, 1983): 8. The Illinois Waterway: Its 310 Year History By John Lamb Canada, until the Sioux Indians successfully gained control of it in the early 18th century. Fell into Disuse After that neither the French nor the British, who in 1763 took over the French possessions, used the route much. It was not until the area came under the control of the United States that the interest in the Lake Michigan-Illinois route revived. In the late 18th century, the trader Du Sable showed the economic value of the Chicago location. In 1795 the Treaty of Grenville forced the Indians to give up an area at the mouth of the Chicago River where a fort was built in 1803 to protect this link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi. The fort was named without unloading its cargo. Fort Dearborn. In the 18th and Although 1983 is the 50th early 19th centuries, various anniversary of the completion of Fired by the discovery, the federal officials wrote of the the Illinois Waterway, that date French concentrated upon trade importance of this connection for represents just one major step in and settlement in the Illinois and the development of the Northwest achieving an idea that is now 310 Mississippi valleys. The Territories, particularly the years old. For it was in 1673 that weakness of Joliet’s plan was western part. The first practical Joliet first put forward the concept pointed out by La Salle when he step towards the construction of a of a waterway to connect the visited the Chicago area in 1682 canal came in 1816 when the Great Lakes to the Mississippi and noted that the Des Plaines Pottawatamis Indians ceded a strip River by cutting through the low River (which joins the Kankakee of land along both sides of the Des ridge that separated the Chicago some 50 miles from Lake Plaines and Illinois rivers. This River from the Des Plaines. His Michigan to form the Illinois was specifically for building a plan called for digging a small River) was too low during most of canal that would allow the Indians canal of a few hundred yards to the year to carry much of a cargo, to sell their goods in the East. connect these two rivers. Louis even in canoes. But the Chicago XIV of France and his finance portage, where the canoes and Illinois Becomes Interested minister, Colbert, were informed cargo were carried between the In 1818 Illinois became a state of the plan, as it was supposed to Chicago River and the Des and the new state’s most ambitious enable a ship to sail from Niagara Plaines, remained the principal project was a waterway to connect Falls to the Gulf of Mexico route between the Midwest and Lake Michigan to the Illinois. In 156 1822 representatives of the state County Historical Society at 803 Public Lands held a hearing on the got the federal government to South State St., in Lockport (open Percy bill last November 30, but grant a strip of land from the 1-4:30 p.m. daily). neither bills cleared before the end Chicago River to the Illinois for a of the last session. Everyone is The Illinois Department of canal. As a result of this grant in not happy, however, with the Conservation gained title to what 1824, the first survey to find a corridor idea. A letter in the remained of the canal about 1972, route for the canal was done by Illinois press by Dr. Robert developed some areas for Rene Post and Justus Paul. In Whalen, stated he objected recreation and a 60-mile Illinois- 1827 the state was granted particularly to Section 13 of the Michigan Canal State Trail additional land consisting of bills which would release to the between Morris and Channahon. alternate sections on either side of state of Illinois all remaining rights The 15-mile stretch between the proposed canal for the purpose of property associated with the Channahon and the Gebhard of financing the canal. The state I&M except “as to the canal prism Woods State Park (near Morris) is then organized a canal commission and towpath.” Dr. Whalen wrote, available for both hiking and that sought to exploit this gift of “Does anyone doubt that big cycling, while the 10 miles land by developing towns and business or special interest groups between Gebhard to Seneca is best selling lots. In 1830 Chicago was who have had land adjoining the for hiking only. (We thank Mrs. laid out in streets and lots, as was canal will not succeed in buying Ralph Emerson, Chicago, for Ottawa at the junction of the Fox and dealing for canal land from the sending items on this. River and the Illinois. The state and thus remove it from the purpose was to sell lots to An Historical Corridor public ownership? The original speculators to finance the legislation creating the canal stated A more recent development has construction of the canal. The that it should stay in public use, been the introduction of legislation 1830 lot sale in Chicago were and a reverter clause has caused to create an Illinois and Michigan disappointingly insignificant. But the state of Illinois to lose title to Canal Heritage Corridor. Sens. the prospect of a canal connecting the canal when it started to dispose Charles Percy (R-Ill.) and Alan J. the Great Lakes to the Mississippi of parts of the canal.” Dixon (D-Ill.) Introduced S.746, brought in a large number of and Rep. Thomas Corcoran (R- A picture and a full description settlers and speculators. In 1833, Ill.) H.R. 2014. The latter was of the City of Pekin ran in the as a result, Chicago was chartered cosponsored by 21 other members February 14, 1981, WJ. She was as a village. In 1836 construction of the Illinois delegation. Similar built as the City of Henry at began on the Illinois and Michigan legislation in the last session died, Chicago in 1875, with hull Canal. Although it would be 12 although the Senate Subcommittee dimensions of 99.2 by 17.4 by 6.9 years before this project was on Public Lands did hold a hearing feet. She burned below the U. S. completed, its completion, despite on Sen. Percy’s bill. Highway 6 bridge at Channahon in financial difficulties, was pushed 1941; the state had planned to by the chief engineer, William The legislation would establish make her into a display boat, but Gooding. Before 1848 a number an Illinois and Michigan Canal this was not done. of towns sprang up along the Heritage Corridor Commission canal, and river towns below it within the U. S. Department of Work Planned on Canal prospered, most of all, the City of Interior, with the aim of stabilizing The Illinois Department of Chicago. structures and preserving historic Conservation has applied for two buildings. And to establish Gone But Not Forgotten permits from the Rock Island intermittent recreational trails District for work on the Illinois Although traffic on the I&M is from Summit to La Salle, Ill. and Michigan Canal. In one a thing of the past, it has certainly There would be visitor orientation project, 4,000 feet of the canal not been forgotten. Its history is displays at eight locations along would be dredged to allow water preserved in the I&M Canal the corridor from Chicago to Peru. flow in the channel. The excavated Museum, operated by the Will The Senate Subcommittee on 157 material would be placed along the pilot channel 1-2 feet deep along Old Canal Days is observed at river-ward edge of the towpath. 23,000 feet of the canal near the Lockport the third weekend of The work would be at the mouth mouth of Crotty Creek and June. Our thanks to Rose of Pecumsaugan Creek, about between North Kickapoo and Rat Bucciferro, curator of the society mid-way between La Salle and Run creeks. The purpose of the museum and archives, for the Utica. channel would be to facilitate picture and canal material. drainage from the Village of The other work would be the (To be continued September 3.) Seneca. construction of a 10- to 12-foot 158.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Fort Dearborn INSTRUCTOR NOTE 2 Ask Students to Locate the First Star on the Chicago Flag
    MMyy ChicagoCChicagoChhiiccaaggoo Fort Dearborn INSTRUCTOR NOTE 2 Ask students to locate the first star on the Chicago flag. Remind stu- dents that this star represents Fort Dearborn. In 1803, the United States built a fort near what is today the Chicago River. One of the people who lived at the fort was Rebecca Heald, the wife of the captain of Fort Dearborn, Nathaniel Heald. This historical fiction narrative is told in her voice. Prior to reading the narrative, review the following vocabulary words with students. Vocabulary allies—groups of people who fight on the same side during a war cede—to yield or grant, typically by treaty explorers—people who travel for adventure or to discover new things settler—someone who moves to a new area and lives there wealthy—rich merchant—someone who buys and sells things established—started mill—a building where grain is turned into flour trading post—an area where people meet to buy, sell, and trade things port—a place where boats come to load and unload things fort—a trading post protected by soldiers evacuate—leave abandoned—left empty mementos—small objects that are important to a person and remind them of past events extraordinary—special 10 2. My CChicagohicago Narrative grounds, a garden and stables, and even a efore I was married, my name was shop where firearms were made and repaired. Rebecca Wells. As a young girl, I Bknew very little about the area that became Chicago. Little did I know that it would be my future home as a newly mar- ried woman.
    [Show full text]
  • The History of the City of Chicago Flag
    7984 S. South Chicago Ave. - Chicago, IL 60616 Ph: 773-768-8076 Fx: 773-768-3138 www.wgnflag.com The History of the City of Chicago Flag In 1915, Alderman James A Kearns proposed to the city council that Chicago should have a flag. Council approved the proposal and established the Chicago Flag Commission to consider designs for the flag. A contest was held and a prize offered for the winning design. The competition was won by Mr. Wallace Rice, author and editor, who had been interested in flags since his boyhood. It took Mr. Rice no less than six weeks to find a suitable combination of color, form, and symbolism. Mr. Rice’s design was approved by the city council in the summer of 1917. Except for the addition of two new stars—one in 1933 commemorating “the Century of Progress” and one in 1939 commemorating Fort Dearborn—the flag remains unchanged to this day. In explaining some of the symbolism of his flag design, Mr. Rice says: It is white, the composite of all colors, because its population is a composite of all nations, dwelling here in peace. The white is divided into three parts—the uppermost signifying the north side, the larger middle area the great west side with an area and population almost exceeding that of the other two sides, and the lowermost, the south side. The two stripes of blue signify, primarily, Lake Michigan and the north Chicago River above, bounding the north side and south branch of the river and the great canal below.
    [Show full text]
  • Fort Dearborn—Conflict, Commemoration, Reconciliation
    Fort Dearborn—Conict, Commemoration, Reconciliation, and the Struggle over “Battle” vs. “Massacre” JOHN N. LOW Ohio State University, Newark The 200th anniversary of the Battle of Fort Dearborn in the city of Chicago was celebrated in August, 2012. There have, in fact, been four “battles” over the razing of the fort. The rst was the actual battle itself; the second was over how the settlers of Chicago collectively memorialized the event; and more recently there were struggles in 2009 and 2012 over how the encounter should be commemorated. The resulting conict over how the battle would be remembered reects the powerful and often contentious nature of memorialization. The details surrounding the circumstances and nature of the so-called “Fort Dearborn Massacre,” as it came to be known, appear to have been sub- stantially supported by the literature and histories being written in the late nineteenth century, including Mrs. John Kinzie’s Narrative of the Massacre at Chicago, August 15, 1812 and of preceding Events (1844), Wau-Bun, the Early Days in the Northwest (1873), Joseph Kirkland’s The Chicago Massacre of 1812 (1893), and Heroes and Heroines of the Fort Dearborn Massacre, A romantic and tragic history of Corporal John Simmons and his heroic wife, by N. Simmons (1896). The idea that the battle was a “mas- sacre” was effectively written in stone (okay, bronze) with a monument commissioned in 1893 by industrialist George Pullman. The (in)famous statue of Black Partridge saving a settler, which originally sat across from Pullman’s home, eventually ended up in a Chicago Park District warehouse.
    [Show full text]
  • Property Rights in Reclaimed Land and the Battle for Streeterville
    Columbia Law School Scholarship Archive Faculty Scholarship Faculty Publications 2013 Contested Shore: Property Rights in Reclaimed Land and the Battle for Streeterville Joseph D. Kearney Thomas W. Merrill Columbia Law School, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship Part of the Environmental Law Commons, and the Property Law and Real Estate Commons Recommended Citation Joseph D. Kearney & Thomas W. Merrill, Contested Shore: Property Rights in Reclaimed Land and the Battle for Streeterville, 107 NW. U. L. REV. 1057 (2013). Available at: https://scholarship.law.columbia.edu/faculty_scholarship/383 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Faculty Publications at Scholarship Archive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Faculty Scholarship by an authorized administrator of Scholarship Archive. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Copyright 2013 by Northwestern University School of Law Printed in U.S.A. Northwestern University Law Review Vol. 107, No. 3 Articles CONTESTED SHORE: PROPERTY RIGHTS IN RECLAIMED LAND AND THE BATTLE FOR STREETERVILLE Joseph D. Kearney & Thomas W. Merrill ABSTRACT-Land reclaimed from navigable waters is a resource uniquely susceptible to conflict. The multiple reasons for this include traditional hostility to interference with navigable waterways and the weakness of rights in submerged land. In Illinois, title to land reclaimed from Lake Michigan was further clouded by a shift in judicial understanding in the late nineteenth century about who owned the submerged land, starting with an assumption of private ownership but eventually embracing state ownership. The potential for such legal uncertainty to produce conflict is vividly illustrated by the history of the area of Chicago known as Streeterville, the area of reclaimed land along Lake Michigan north of the Chicago River and east of Michigan Avenue.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Chicago
    Prairie Pages Vol. 4 # 2 Education Services Illinois Historic Preservation Agency Early Chicago Glossary Fort Dearborn Massacre massacre—the After the Revolutionary War, the new federal government violent killing of a decided that Illinois needed protection from the British. Even number of people though Great Britain had lost the war, a treaty in 1783 allowed the British to continue trading for furs with Native Americans in treaty—an agree- Illinois. Having a former enemy still in business on American ment between two soil was a strong reason to build a fort in this region. In 1803, groups or countries Fort Dearborn was built at the mouth of the Chicago River. trading post—a place Before the Revolutionary War, Jean Baptiste Point du Sable had where goods could built a trading post in the same area. Du Sable had married a be exchanged; for Potawatomie woman who helped him run the trading post, a example furs were mill, and a farm. He had to close the trading post during the traded for guns war, but he and his wife returned when the war ended and stayed until 1800. The new trading post operator was John mill—a building provided with ma- chinery for grinding grain into flour DuSable trading post at the head of the Chicago portage. Courtesy Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library. Kinzie. From 1803 until 1812, life at the fort and the nearby settlement was fairly quiet. Things changed in August 1812. The British captured a nearby fort, and that frightened the settlers at Fort Dearborn. The soldiers stationed there were ordered to leave the strongly built fort and take the settlers to Fort Wayne, in Indiana.
    [Show full text]
  • Designated Historic and Natural Resources Within the I&M Canal
    Designated historic and natural resources within the I&M Canal National Heritage Corridor Federal Designations National Cemeteries • Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery National Heritage Areas • Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area National Historic Landmarks • Adler Planetarium (Chicago, Cook County) • Auditorium Building (Chicago, Cook County) • Carson, Pirie, Scott, and Company Store (Chicago, Cook County) • Chicago Board of Trade Building (LaSalle Street, Chicago, Cook County) • Depriest, Oscar Stanton, House (Chicago, Cook County) • Du Sable, Jean Baptiste Point, Homesite (Chicago, Cook County) • Glessner, John H., House (Chicago, Cook County) • Hegeler-Carus Mansion (LaSalle, LaSalle County) • Hull House (Chicago, Cook County) • Illinois & Michigan Canal Locks and Towpath (Will County) • Leiter II Building (Chicago, Cook County) • Marquette Building (Chicago, Cook County) • Marshall Field Company Store (Chicago, Cook County) • Mazon Creek Fossil Beds (Grundy County) • Old Kaskaskia Village (LaSalle County) • Old Stone Gate, Chicago Union Stockyards (Chicago, Cook County) • Orchestra Hall (Chicago, Cook County) • Pullman Historic District (Chicago, Cook County) • Reliance Building, (Chicago, Cook County) • Rookery Building (Chicago, Cook County) • Shedd Aquarium (Chicago, Cook County) • South Dearborn Street-Printing House Row North (Chicago, Cook County) • S. R. Crown Hall (Chicago, Cook County) • Starved Rock (LaSalle County) • Wells-Barnettm Ida B., House (Chicago, Cook County) • Williams, Daniel Hale, House (Chicago, Cook County) National Register of Historic Places Cook County • Abraham Groesbeck House, 1304 W. Washington Blvd. (Chicago) • Adler Planetarium, 1300 S. Lake Shore Dr., (Chicago) • American Book Company Building, 320-334 E. Cermak Road (Chicago) • A. M. Rothschild & Company Store, 333 S. State St. (Chicago) • Armour Square, Bounded by W 33rd St., W 34th Place, S. Wells Ave. and S.
    [Show full text]
  • Illinois Military Museums & Veterans Memorials
    ILLINOIS enjoyillinois.com i It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far nobly advanced. Abraham Lincoln Illinois State Veterans Memorials are located in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield. The Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial is situated along the Illinois River in Marseilles. Images (clockwise from top left): World War II Illinois Veterans Memorial, Illinois Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Vietnam Veterans Annual Vigil), World War I Illinois Veterans Memorial, Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site (Illinois Department of Natural Resources), Illinois Korean War Memorial, Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial, Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site (Illinois Office of Tourism), Illinois Purple Heart Memorial Every effort was made to ensure the accuracy of information in this guide. Please call ahead to verify or visit enjoyillinois.com for the most up-to-date information. This project was partially funded by a grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity/Office of Tourism. 12/2019 10,000 What’s Inside 2 Honoring Veterans Annual events for veterans and for celebrating veterans Honor Flight Network 3 Connecting veterans with their memorials 4 Historic Forts Experience history up close at recreated forts and historic sites 6 Remembering the Fallen National and state cemeteries provide solemn places for reflection is proud to be home to more than 725,000 8 Veterans Memorials veterans and three active military bases. Cities and towns across the state honor Illinois We are forever indebted to Illinois’ service members and their veterans through memorials, monuments, and equipment displays families for their courage and sacrifice.
    [Show full text]
  • The Chicago Shoreline Originally Consisted of a Natural Sand Edge, with Dunes and Swales and Marshy Lowlands
    The Chicago shoreline originally consisted of a natural sand edge, with dunes and swales and marshy lowlands. Prior to the 1770s, the area was primarily inhabited by native American Indians. As the shipping industry grew and water-borne travel increased from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Chicago, des Plaines, and Illinois Rivers, the importance of the area around the mouth of the Chicago River was quickly realized. To prevent the British and their Indian allies from recapturing this vital water transportation route, Fort Dearborn was built in 1803 on the south bank of the Chicago River. By the 1830s, urban settlers began arriving. In 1835, piers to protect the harbor entrance and a lighthouse to guide shipping were built. As Chicago grew into a city, which was incorporated in 1833, lakefront shipping expanded. 1848 saw the completion of the Illinois-Michigan Canal. In 1860, the Illinois and Michigan Canal was dredged, and in 1889, the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago was formed to begin building the Sanitary and Ship Canal. In 1900, the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal was completed; as a result, transportation and waste-carrying capacity was greatly increased and the river's flow was reversed inland to the Calumet River. In a span of 75 years, Chicago, specifically along Lake Michigan, became the center of intense commercial, industrial, and transportation development. Some major historical events that helped to guide the lakefront to what it is today are highlighted. An 1836 surveyor’s map by the Commissioners of the Illinois and Michigan Canal Company indicated that the area between Madison Street and 11 th Place from Michigan Avenue to the Lake be “open ground – no building”.
    [Show full text]
  • Insider's Guide to Chicago
    The NIRI-Chicago Insider’s Guide to Chicago April 2015 Welcome to Chicago for the NIRI Annual Conference. In our opinion, there’s no better place to spend a few summer days. Our chapter has compiled suggestions to help you make the most of your time before/after the conference and after the day’s events conclude. This is very much an idiosyncratic view – our personal opinions rather than a comprehensive guide – so we’ve included links to online resources for additional information. We’re biased toward nearby locations, so distances (from Google Maps) are mostly based on walking versus driving. In addition, feel free to ask advice of our chapter members during the conference . we’ll be wearing NIRI-Chicago buttons. Or, take the traditional route and talk to the helpful Hyatt Regency Chicago concierge. Enjoy! Chicago by day ........................................................................................................................ Page 2 Chicago at night ....................................................................................................................... Page 6 Our favorite nearby restaurants ............................................................................................... Page 8 Chicago by Day LANDMARKS • Millennium Park, 201 E. Randolph St. (between Michigan Avenue and Columbus Avenue, 0.5 mile from the Hyatt Regency Chicago). Open daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sights include Crown Fountain, Cloud Gate (otherwise known as “the Bean”), BP Bridge and Lurie Garden. www.millenniumpark.org • Grant Park, 337 E. Randolph St. (bordered on the north by Randolph Street, on the south by Roosevelt Road, on the west by Michigan Avenue and on the east by Lake Michigan). Open daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. Notable features include Millennium Park, Buckingham Fountain, the Art Institute of Chicago and Museum Campus (Shedd Aquarium, Field Museum, Adler Planetarium, Soldier Field).
    [Show full text]
  • Chicago Deaths Reported in Harvard, Illinois, Newspapers, 1899–1904 by Craig L
    Summer 2016 Chicago Volume 48, No. 4 Genealogist Chicago Genealogical Society PURPOSE: The Chicago Genealogical Society, founded in 1967, is a not-for-profit edu- cational organization devoted to collecting, preserving, and perpetuating the records of our ancestors, and to stimulating an interest in all people who contributed in any way to the de- velopment of Chicago and its surrounding area. MEMBERSHIP: The duration of your CGS Membership is one year from the date you enroll. Annual U.S. dues are: $25.00 – Individual, Library, or Society membership; $30.00 – Family membership; $30.00 – Contributing membership; and $250.00 – Life membership. Foreign membership, $10.00 extra. New members receive issues of the Newsletter beginning with completion of the membership process, and all four issues of the Chicago Genealogist. MEETINGS: Meetings are free and open to the public. For date and program information, please consult the current Newsletter or visit our website at http://www.chicagogenealogy. org and click on “Calendar.” NEWSLETTER: Eleven issues published each year: July/August [Summer], then monthly through June. The newsletter contains genealogical and related historical articles and an- nouncements. Foreign memberships will only receive the newsletter in electronic form. U.S. members have the option of selecting postal or electronic receipt of the newsletter. Please contact us via our website if you wish your newsletter to be delivered electronically. CHICAGO GENEALOGIST: Published quarterly. Church and school records, family stories, bible records, and other materials of genealogical value relating to Chicago and Cook County will be considered for publication, provided such material has not been previously published or is out of copyright.
    [Show full text]
  • Chicago Flag 1 INSTRUCTOR NOTE Set the Stage for Students by Telling Them That You Are Going to Read Them a Short Introduction About the Chicago Flag
    My ChicagoChicago Chicago Flag 1 INSTRUCTOR NOTE Set the stage for students by telling them that you are going to read them a short introduction about the Chicago flag. Flags tell stories in a kind of code. The colors and designs on flags represent important peo- ple, places, and events. Countries, states, and cities have official flags to express pride in their heritage. During this lesson, students will learn to understand what the symbols on the Chicago flag represent. Then they will have the opportunity to make their own Chicago flag. Prior to reading the introduction, review the following vocabulary words with students. Vocabulary sights—buildings, statues, fountains, and parks that people like to look at represent—to stand for topic—a subject Narrative id you know that you are a Chicagoan? That means you are a per- son who lives in Chicago! As a Chicagoan, you have a lot to be Dproud of. Chicago is the third largest city in the United States, right behind New York and Los Angeles. People from all over the world visit Chicago to see our famous sights, including museums, buildings, restau- rants, and neighborhoods. Many of our buildings were designed by the most important architects of the twentieth century. We have legendary sports teams and the world’s busiest airport. Ẅ What are some facts you know about Chicago’s past and present? Do you know the name 6 1 My CChicagohicago Narrative and occupation of our first non-Indian perma- What are the symbols you see on nent settler? Do you know how the Great the flag? This flag lets you know all the Chicago Fire of 1871 started? You are going things we are going to learn about our city.
    [Show full text]
  • A Quick Romp Through Chicago History by Eleanor Nicholson
    A Quick Romp through Chicago History by Eleanor Nicholson Introduction I volunteered to give those who will be at the Woodstock Reunion in Chicago in July 19-22 a tour of Chicago history. As a proud citizen of my beloved city, I wanted our visitors who, even if you have been in Chicago other times, might want to understand more about how this place evolved from a tiny frontier settlement situated on a sluggish river, infused with the smell of wild onion (possibly the source of our name), to one of the great cities of the world. Compared to the settling of both American coasts in the 17th century, Chicago’s history is relatively brief but it is remarkable. I’m going to lead you on this Chicago Lite romp through the history of our city through the introduction of the Chicago flag, which you will see everywhere displayed, and to its iconography. The Chicago Flag The flag itself has had quite a history and, like Chicago history itself, is not unmarred by echoes of political pressures. In 1915, the Chicago Municipal Flag Commission chose Wallace Rice to set the design rules of a competition; there were over 1,000 submissions, including his. Surprisingly perhaps—or not--Wallace Rice’s design won the competition. I don’t know if there were concerns expressed about that fact but I do believe that it’s a great flag and, by his design, full of meaning. (According to a national survey only a few years ago, it is the second best city flag in the United States.
    [Show full text]