This recent map compiled by the Openlands Project shows waterways in the Chicago region. In contrast to the 1851 map, which intended to show lands valuable for farming, commerce and industry to potential real estate customers, this map focuses on the region from the perspective of the recreational boater, highlighting water trails for small, nonmotorized boats. In the years between the 1851 map and today, waterways supported the region's dramatic growth over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Wharves, factories, warehouses, and railroads fronted the rivers of the region. Until the 1920s, untreated sewage from industries and residences poured into these waterways, making most open sewers. Waterways and their banks were places to be avoided until the late twentieth century, when deindustrialization, heightened environmental concern, and changing transportation left waterways cleaner and emptier. Groups like Openlands have encouraged new and innovative ways of thinking about regional waterways.

Creator: Openlands Project
Source: Openlands Project