George Wellington Streeter and his family are perhaps among the most notorious families to live on a ship at Chicago. In 1886, Streeter's small ship ran aground on a sandbar just off the shoreline on Near North Side and his family took up residence there. Over time, lake currents and garbage had created 168 acres landfill which Streeter claimed as his own (and he moved from his shipwrecked boat to a small landed structure. Streeter and his family pursued their claims in court, but were evicted from the property during World War I by Mayor Bill Thompson for selling liquor. This photograph shows Mrs. George Wellington Streeter on her houseboat in 1922, the year after her husband died. The boat is moored adjacent to the Ogden Slip, just north of the mouth of the Chicago River.

Photographer: Chicago Daily News
Source: Chicago Historical Society (DN-0074817)