- Lake Calumet
Infobox lake
lake_name = Lake Calumet
image_lake =
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location =Chicago ,Illinois
coords = coord|41|40|48|N|87|35|24|W|type:waterbody_region:US-IL|display=inline,title
type =
inflow =
outflow =Des Plaines River
catchment =
basin_countries = United States
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cities =Lake Calumet is the largest body of water within the city of
Chicago . Formerly a shallow, postglaciallake draining intoLake Michigan , it has been changed beyond recognition by industrial redevelopment and decay. Parts of the lake have beendredge d, other parts reshaped bylandfill , and the surviving fragment of the lake now, with the rest of the city of Chicago, drains into theDes Plaines River and theMississippi River basin.History
Lake Calumet was near the center of an extensive wetland area located within
Hyde Park Township, Cook County . Because the lake'sCalumet River created shipping opportunities out onto Lake Michigan, the swampy zone was rapidly filled and developed by industry in the 1880s. The area remains heavily industrialized today.cite web |url = http://egov.cityofchicago.org/webportal/COCWebPortal/COC_EDITORIAL/industrial_corridor_1.pdf |title=Industrial Corridor |date=2004-03-08 |publisher=City of Chicago |accessdate=2007-10-25] The Chicago neighborhood of Pullman, with its railroad passenger car factories, was sited on the lake's west shore. Steel mills began to line the Calumet River. TheIllinois Central railroad was built nearby. Part of the former lakebed was used as a right-of-way for a freeway named in the lake's honor, the "Calumet Expressway".Some of the landfilling work was done with
steel mill slag and other industrial wastes. The presence of hazardous chemicals in much of the fill material has led to suggestions that parts of the Lake Calumet area be added to theSuperfund list. [ Bob Tita, "Former dump getting capped", Crain's Chicago Business, October 23, 2006, page 20. ] In 1996, the Calumet Expressway was renamed theBishop Ford Freeway , honoring Chicago religious leader Bishop Louis Henry Ford at the expense of the half-infilled lake.Today
The remains of Lake Calumet lie east of the Bishop Ford Freeway (
Interstate 94 ) on the far south side of Chicago, between 103rd street and 130th street. The lake itself is part of the underutilizedPort of Chicago . A lakesidegrain elevator can be seen from the expressway.The vestigial lake officially lies within Chicago's
South Deering community area. Cleanup efforts in former landfills areas continueas of 2007 .
=Maps and* [http://bbs.keyhole.com/ubb/download.php?Number=408875 Placemark for Lake Calumet area (Requires Google Earth)]
External links
Lake history and region : [http://www.neiu.edu/~reseller/ehpg2erlyyrs.htm]
References
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