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90-782: The Club DeLisa , also written Delisa or De Lisa , was an African-American nightclub and music venue in Chicago, Illinois . Located at 5521 South State Street (State Street and Garfield Avenue, on the South Side ), it was possibly the most prestigious venue in the city. Together with the Regal Theater and the Rhumboogie Café , the 800–seat Club DeLisa played a key role in the city's association with jazz, blues, rhythm and blues and soul music. It closed in February 1958, but

180-403: A Democrat, was elected in 1955, in the era of machine politics . In 1956, the city conducted its last major expansion when it annexed the land under O'Hare airport, including a small portion of DuPage County. By the 1960s, white residents in several neighborhoods left the city for the suburban areas – in many American cities, a process known as white flight – as Blacks continued to move beyond

270-495: A heart attack soon after. Washington was succeeded by 6th ward alderperson Eugene Sawyer , who was elected by the Chicago City Council and served until a special election. Richard M. Daley , son of Richard J. Daley, was elected in 1989. His accomplishments included improvements to parks and creating incentives for sustainable development , as well as closing Meigs Field in the middle of the night and destroying

360-813: A key to European activity in the Midwest , ultimately leading to the foundation of Chicago . The Portage crossed waterways and wetlands between the Chicago River and the Des Plaines River , through a gap in the Valparaiso Moraine . In 1848, the water divide was breached by the Illinois and Michigan (I&M) Canal cutting through the portage, this was deepened and widened in 1900 by the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal which

450-665: A model for the new field of social work . During the 1870s and 1880s, Chicago attained national stature as the leader in the movement to improve public health. City laws and later, state laws that upgraded standards for the medical profession and fought urban epidemics of cholera , smallpox , and yellow fever were both passed and enforced. These laws became templates for public health reform in other cities and states. The city established many large, well-landscaped municipal parks , which also included public sanitation facilities. The chief advocate for improving public health in Chicago

540-417: A new grade with the use of jackscrews for raising buildings. While elevating Chicago, and at first improving the city's health, the untreated sewage and industrial waste now flowed into the Chicago River , and subsequently into Lake Michigan , polluting the city's primary freshwater source. The city responded by tunneling two miles (3.2 km) out into Lake Michigan to newly built water cribs . In 1900,

630-407: Is known to botanists as Allium tricoccum and known more commonly as "ramps". The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as " Checagou " was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir. Henri Joutel , in his journal of 1688, noted that the eponymous wild "garlic" grew profusely in the area. According to his diary of late September 1687: ... when we arrived at

720-664: Is likely that the Chicago Portage was regularly used during this period. During all of this time early Native Americans found the Chicago Portage to be a convenient transportation route between the Great Lakes region and the Mississippi River in the interior. By 1673 the French had established a trading post at present day Mackinac Island at the top of Lake Michigan. In that year, Jean-Baptiste Talon ,

810-692: Is now called the Hopewell Interaction Sphere , and the part that encompassed Illinois, the Havana Hopewell , played a major part. Since at this time most long-distance travel for trade purposes was via water, it is likely that during this Woodland period the Chicago Portage was first regularly used. The Mississippian period (1000 – 1600) followed the Woodland. During this time native people built more permanent settlements, and continued to expand trading networks.  Cahokia

900-554: Is routinely ranked among the world's top six busiest airports by passenger traffic , and the region is also the nation's railroad hub. The Chicago area has one of the highest gross domestic products (GDP) of any urban region in the world, generating $ 689 billion in 2018. Chicago's economy is diverse , with no single industry employing more than 14% of the workforce. Chicago is a major destination for tourism , including visitors to its cultural institutions , and Lake Michigan beaches . Chicago's culture has contributed much to

990-479: The Black Belt . While home loan discriminatory redlining against blacks continued, the real estate industry practiced what became known as blockbusting , completely changing the racial composition of whole neighborhoods. Structural changes in industry, such as globalization and job outsourcing, caused heavy job losses for lower-skilled workers. At its peak during the 1960s, some 250,000 workers were employed in

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1080-719: The Calumet River in the industrial far South Side—flow either entirely or partially through the city. Chicago's history and economy are closely tied to its proximity to Lake Michigan. While the Chicago River historically handled much of the region's waterborne cargo, today's huge lake freighters use the city's Lake Calumet Harbor on the South Side. The lake also provides another positive effect: moderating Chicago's climate, making waterfront neighborhoods slightly warmer in winter and cooler in summer. When Chicago

1170-562: The Chicago School , the development of the City Beautiful movement , and the steel-framed skyscraper . Chicago is an international hub for finance, culture , commerce, industry, education, technology, telecommunications, and transportation . It has the largest and most diverse finance derivatives market in the world, generating 20% of all volume in commodities and financial futures alone. O'Hare International Airport

1260-540: The Great Lakes to connect to the Mississippi River. A flourishing economy brought residents from rural communities and immigrants from abroad. Manufacturing and retail and finance sectors became dominant, influencing the American economy . The Chicago Board of Trade (established 1848) listed the first-ever standardized "exchange-traded" forward contracts, which were called futures contracts . In

1350-542: The Jefferson Township , which now makes up most of Chicago's Northwest Side . The desire to join the city was driven by municipal services that the city could provide its residents. Chicago's flourishing economy attracted huge numbers of new immigrants from Europe and migrants from the Eastern United States . Of the total population in 1900, more than 77% were either foreign-born or born in

1440-459: The Miami , Sauk and Meskwaki peoples in this region. The first known permanent settler in Chicago was trader Jean Baptiste Point du Sable . Du Sable was of African descent, perhaps born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti), and established the settlement in the 1780s. He is commonly known as the "Founder of Chicago." In 1795, following the victory of the new United States in

1530-655: The New Negro Movement , in art, literature, and music. Continuing racial tensions and violence, such as the Chicago race riot of 1919 , also occurred. The ratification of the 18th amendment to the Constitution in 1919 made the production and sale (including exportation) of alcoholic beverages illegal in the United States. This ushered in the beginning of what is known as the gangster era, a time that roughly spans from 1919 until 1933 when Prohibition

1620-836: The Northwest Indian War , an area that was to be part of Chicago was turned over to the U.S. for a military post by native tribes in accordance with the Treaty of Greenville . In 1803, the U.S. Army constructed Fort Dearborn , which was destroyed during the War of 1812 in the Battle of Fort Dearborn by the Potawatomi before being later rebuilt. After the War of 1812, the Ottawa , Ojibwe , and Potawatomi tribes ceded additional land to

1710-469: The University of Chicago , Northwestern University , and the University of Illinois Chicago , among other institutions of learning . Professional sports in Chicago include all major professional leagues , including two Major League Baseball teams. The name Chicago is derived from a French rendering of the indigenous Miami–Illinois word shikaakwa for a wild relative of the onion ; it

1800-698: The Washington and Jackson Parks. During World War I and the 1920s there was a major expansion in industry. The availability of jobs attracted African Americans from the Southern United States . Between 1910 and 1930, the African American population of Chicago increased dramatically, from 44,103 to 233,903. This Great Migration had an immense cultural impact, called the Chicago Black Renaissance , part of

1890-555: The most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States . With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 census , it is the third-most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles . As the seat of Cook County , the second-most populous county in the U.S., Chicago is the center of the Chicago metropolitan area , often colloquially called "Chicagoland" and home to 9.6 million residents. Located on

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1980-494: The 1800s, Chicago became the nation's railroad hub, and by 1910 over 20 railroads operated passenger service out of six different downtown terminals. In 1883, Chicago's railway managers needed a general time convention, so they developed the standardized system of North American time zones . This system for telling time spread throughout the continent. In 1893, Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exposition on former marshland at

2070-477: The 1850s, Chicago gained national political prominence as the home of Senator Stephen Douglas , the champion of the Kansas–Nebraska Act and the "popular sovereignty" approach to the issue of the spread of slavery. These issues also helped propel another Illinoisan, Abraham Lincoln , to the national stage. Lincoln was nominated in Chicago for U.S. president at the 1860 Republican National Convention , which

2160-640: The 57th mayor of Chicago. Chicago is located in northeastern Illinois on the southwestern shores of freshwater Lake Michigan. It is the principal city in the Chicago Metropolitan Area , situated in both the Midwestern United States and the Great Lakes region . The city rests on a continental divide at the site of the Chicago Portage, connecting the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes watersheds . In addition to it lying beside Lake Michigan, two rivers—the Chicago River in downtown and

2250-766: The Chicago Outlet River created an easy passage over the Saint Lawrence River Divide , the continental divide that separated what had become the Great Lakes waterway system from the Mississippi River waterway system and, as the illustration shows, opened up almost all of what was to become the United States from the Allegheny Mountains to the Rocky Mountains as far south as the Gulf of Mexico. Native Americans had used

2340-455: The Chicago River were devastated; by 1933 over 50% of industrial jobs in the city had been lost, and unemployment rates amongst blacks and Mexicans in the city were over 40%. The Republican political machine in Chicago was utterly destroyed by the economic crisis, and every mayor since 1931 has been a Democrat . From 1928 to 1933, the city witnessed a tax revolt, and the city was unable to meet payroll or provide relief efforts. The fiscal crisis

2430-597: The Chicago area have revealed shells from the Gulf Coast , galena from the Galena, Illinois , area, and copper from Lake Superior . The Woodland period (500 BCE – 1,000 CE) followed the Archaic. The Hopewell culture (200 BCE to 500 CE) that arose during this time saw further development of these trade networks as well as the appearance of pottery.   Hopewell tribes engaged in extensive trade. This trade network

2520-479: The DeLisa chorines, accompanied by a house band that ranged in size from 7 to 12 pieces, depending on the club's revenues. Another less heralded source of revenue was gambling, in the club's basement. During its heyday in the 1930s and 1940s, the club would remain open 24 hours a day, offering round-the-clock entertainment with musicians, dancers and vaudeville acts. Among the musicians and performers associated with

2610-680: The East that became the St Lawrence River.  This allowed the emerging lakes to drain even faster, and the Chicago Outlet River dried up leaving the gap in the moraine that served the Chicago Portage. The Chicago Portage linked what became known as the Chicago River's South Branch and what became known as the Des Plaines River. The point at which the portage crossed the low continental divide that separated waters flowing east toward Lake Michigan from waters flowing west toward

2700-458: The French. In particular, it provided an easy connection between the French cities of Montreal and New Orleans . An indication of the importance of portages that potentially could make this connection is shown in early maps of the region.  For example, this French map of the western regions of New France, published 1755, shows the “R.(iviere) et Port de Checageu” (River and Port of Checageu),

2790-484: The Mission of st. Ignace at Michilimakinac where I Then was. The Joy that we felt at being selected for This Expedition animated our Courage, and rendered the labor of paddling from morning to night agreeable to us. The explorers found the Mississippi River, explored it, and then returned to Michilimakinac by a different route on the advice of Native Americans they had encountered along the way, who told them that there

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2880-410: The Mississippi River was a wetland that occupied the ancient stream bed of the Chicago Outlet River.  Early settlers called this marshy area “Mud Lake”.   The total length of the portage was about six miles. Mud Lake could be wet, dry, marshy, or frozen, depending on the season and the weather, making it at times a difficult, albeit very valuable, transportation route. In very wet weather

2970-535: The Mississippi River. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed an area about 4 miles (6.4 km) long and 1-mile (1.6 km) wide, a large section of the city at the time. Much of the city, including railroads and stockyards , survived intact, and from the ruins of the previous wooden structures arose more modern constructions of steel and stone. These set a precedent for worldwide construction. During its rebuilding period, Chicago constructed

3060-568: The South Branch of the Chicago River and pulled their boats over the St Lawrence Continental Divide into Mud Lake where the water was deep enough to float them.  Then …      Other members of the crew carried the boats’ cargo, across the seven-mile-long land trail to the Des Plaines River.  Because of his status as clerk of the expedition, by virtue of his ability to read and write, Hubbard

3150-578: The South arrived in the city to work in the steel mills, railroads, and shipping yards. On December 2, 1942, physicist Enrico Fermi conducted the world's first controlled nuclear reaction at the University of Chicago as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project . This led to the creation of the atomic bomb by the United States, which it used in World War II in 1945. Mayor Richard J. Daley ,

3240-557: The United States in the 1816 Treaty of St. Louis . The Potawatomi were forcibly removed from their land after the 1833 Treaty of Chicago and sent west of the Mississippi River as part of the federal policy of Indian removal . On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of about 200. Within seven years it grew to more than 6,000 people. On June 15, 1835, the first public land sales began with Edmund Dick Taylor as Receiver of Public Monies. The City of Chicago

3330-787: The United States of foreign parentage. Germans , Irish , Poles , Swedes , and Czechs made up nearly two-thirds of the foreign-born population (by 1900, whites were 98.1% of the city's population). Labor conflicts followed the industrial boom and the rapid expansion of the labor pool, including the Haymarket affair on May 4, 1886, and in 1894 the Pullman Strike . Anarchist and socialist groups played prominent roles in creating very large and highly organized labor actions. Concern for social problems among Chicago's immigrant poor led Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr to found Hull House in 1889. Programs that were developed there became

3420-558: The bend in the river they would either head East into Mud Lake, if there was sufficient water there to permit that option, or stop at the landing, offload their canoes or boats, and carry everything along the Portage trails to reach the South Branch of the Chicago River. The Chicago Portage National Historic Site is outlined in red and the map shows the entrance to Mud Lake and the West End Landing.    Further proof that

3510-630: The city and its history, separating two blue stripes symbolizing the two great waters that meet at the city. The Chicago Portage National Historic Site is a National Historic Site in Lyons , Cook County , Illinois , United States . The site, designated January 3, 1952 as an "affiliated area" of the National Park Service , is owned and administered by the Forest Preserve District of Cook County Preserved within

3600-565: The city include the central business district, called the Loop , and the North, South , and West Sides . The three sides of the city are represented on the Flag of Chicago by three horizontal white stripes. The North Side is the most-densely-populated residential section of the city, and many high-rises are located on this side of the city along the lakefront. The South Side is the largest section of

3690-545: The city was affected by a series of tenant rent strikes , which lead to the formation of the Chicago Tenants Protective association, passage of the Kessenger tenant laws, and of a heat ordinance that legally required flats to be kept above 68 °F during winter months by landlords. Chicago was the first American city to have a homosexual-rights organization. The organization, formed in 1924,

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3780-415: The city's first African American woman mayor and its first openly LGBTQ mayor, was elected to succeed Emanuel as mayor in 2019. All three city-wide elective offices were held by women (and women of color) for the first time in Chicago history: in addition to Lightfoot, the city clerk was Anna Valencia and the city treasurer was Melissa Conyears-Ervin . On May 15, 2023, Brandon Johnson assumed office as

3870-424: The city's first female mayor, was elected. She was notable for temporarily moving into the crime-ridden Cabrini-Green housing project and for leading Chicago's school system out of a financial crisis. In 1983, Harold Washington became the first black mayor of Chicago. Washington's first term in office directed attention to poor and previously neglected minority neighborhoods. He was re‑elected in 1987 but died of

3960-619: The city, encompassing roughly 60% of the city's land area. The South Side contains most of the facilities of the Port of Chicago . Chicago Portage In the summer of 1673 members of the Kaskaskia , a tribe of the Illinois Confederation , led French explorers Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette , the first known Europeans to explore this part of North America, to the portage.  A strategic location, it became

4050-527: The convention hall, with anti-war protesters, journalists and bystanders being beaten by police. Major construction projects, including the Sears Tower (now known as the Willis Tower , which in 1974 became the world's tallest building ), University of Illinois at Chicago , McCormick Place , and O'Hare International Airport , were undertaken during Richard J. Daley's tenure. In 1979, Jane Byrne ,

4140-431: The deaths of two of the DeLisa brothers. The closing of the club was commemorated in the February 6, 1958 issue of Chicago-based Jet magazine, stating the club would close on February 16 of that year. The magazine has Saunders quoted saying "I haven't had a vacation since 1952. I guess I'll take one now." When DJs E. Rodney Jones and Pervis Spann re-opened the venue under the new name, Cannonball Adderley 's quintet

4230-483: The district and forcing a shutdown of electrical power. The area was shut down for three days and some buildings did not reopen for weeks; losses were estimated at $ 1.95 billion. On February 23, 2011, Rahm Emanuel , a former White House Chief of Staff and member of the House of Representatives , won the mayoral election. Emanuel was sworn in as mayor on May 16, 2011, and won re-election in 2015. Lori Lightfoot ,

4320-539: The fair was technological innovation over the century since Chicago's founding. During World War II , the city of Chicago alone produced more steel than the United Kingdom every year from 1939 – 1945, and more than Nazi Germany from 1943 – 1945. The Great Migration, which had been on pause due to the Depression, resumed at an even faster pace in the second wave , as hundreds of thousands of blacks from

4410-577: The first Intendant (administrator) of New France , having heard of reports of a great river to the West and hoping it would be the long-sought "Northwest Passage" to the Pacific Ocean, ordered a reconnaissance mission to find and explore this river. In May of that year the group, consisting of Louis Jolliet , Father Jacques Marquette , and five voyageurs set out on their voyage of discovery. Accordingly, on The 17th day of may, 1673, we started from

4500-542: The image.  The current course of the Des Plaines River flows North to South and is shown just to the left of these remnants. The second image shows the ancient course of the Des Plaines River overlayed (in blue) on the photo above it to show the river as it was during the centuries of the Portage’s use. Travelers coming from the West would approach from the Southwest, using the old river outlined in blue.  Reaching

4590-451: The lowest points are along the lake shore at 578 ft (176.2 m), while the highest point, at 672 ft (205 m), is the morainal ridge of Blue Island in the city's far south side. Lake Shore Drive runs adjacent to a large portion of Chicago's waterfront. Some of the parks along the waterfront include Lincoln Park , Grant Park , Burnham Park , and Jackson Park . There are 24 public beaches across 26 miles (42 km) of

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4680-411: The mouth of the St Lawrence River to the Rocky Mountains and the Gulf of Mexico. Until the second half of the 19th century water transportation was virtually the only way to move goods and people around North America. Hence, connections between strategic waterways, usually involving portages, held special importance. The importance of the Chicago Portage lies in the fact that the channel cut by

4770-517: The next six years. The Chicago Portage, established thousands of years before as the link between the two great waterway systems of America, would give birth to Chicago which would go on to become the transportation hub of the US and continue its role as the link between the East and the West. The official flag of the City of Chicago is a stylized map of the Chicago Portage, with four red stars symbolizing

4860-593: The original course of the Des Plaines River is as shown comes from the third map, one of many from the Knight and Zeuch study of the Chicago Portage.   This one shows the old course of the Des Plaines River and the bend in the river that marked the western end of the portage. A History of the Chicago Portage (2021) , Benjamin Sells, Northwestern U. Press The Location of the Chicago Portage Route of

4950-402: The park is the western end of the historic Chicago Portage. The site is the only part of the Portage that remains in a natural and protected state more or less as it existed when in use by Native Americans and the Europeans who came after them. The Des Plaines River today is not the river as it was in, for example, 1673 when Jolliet and Marquette first passed through the Chicago Portage. During

5040-410: The period 1892-1900 the original channel of the river was straightened, cutting off the part that the Jolliet and Marquette party used to reach the west end of the portage. This aerial photo shows the Des Plaines River and the area around the Portage Historic Site as they exist today (2024).   The remnants of the old course of the river can be seen as faint collections of water in the middle of

5130-559: The portage for almost two thousand years before the arrival of Europeans. The Portage was probably created around 500 BCE at the end of what is commonly referred to as the Archaic period .  Early people had been migrating into the region around the Portage since the Paleo-Indian period , and by the time of the formation of the Portage, these people had begun to create semi-permanent settlements.  Archaeological evidence shows that long-distance trade routes had been established.  Late Archaic sites that have been uncovered around

5220-408: The portage were low, passage was difficult, in part due to the soft or waterlogged ground. In 1818 Gurdon Hubbard , then 16 years old and traveling with a “brigade” of voyageurs as an indentured clerk, crossed the Portage from East to West and left an account in his memoirs. They had traveled down to the Portage from Mackinac Island in bateaux , heavy flat-bottomed boats.  They traveled down

5310-440: The present location of Jackson Park . The Exposition drew 27.5 million visitors, and is considered the most influential world's fair in history. The University of Chicago , formerly at another location, moved to the same South Side location in 1892. The term "midway" for a fair or carnival referred originally to the Midway Plaisance , a strip of park land that still runs through the University of Chicago campus and connects

5400-428: The problem of sewage contamination was largely resolved when the city completed a major engineering feat. It reversed the flow of the Chicago River so that the water flowed away from Lake Michigan rather than into it. This project began with the construction and improvement of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, and was completed with the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal that connects to the Illinois River , which flows into

5490-410: The region led to the Portage and the several fords near it. The map also shows the Old Portage Long trail that was used when there was insufficient water in Mud Lake to allow traverse by canoe.  This trail extended to the southwest to the early settlement of Ottaw a on the Illinois River.  Since there was usually sufficient water in the larger Illinois River for canoeing, this “Ottawa Trail”

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5580-522: The runways. After successfully running for re-election five times, and becoming Chicago's longest-serving mayor, Richard M. Daley declined to run for a seventh term. In 1992, a construction accident near the Kinzie Street Bridge produced a breach connecting the Chicago River to a tunnel below, which was part of an abandoned freight tunnel system extending throughout the downtown Loop district. The tunnels filled with 250 million US gallons (1,000,000 m ) of water, affecting buildings throughout

5670-436: The said place called "Chicagou" which, according to what we were able to learn of it, has taken this name because of the quantity of garlic which grows in the forests in this region. The city has had several nicknames throughout its history, such as the Windy City , Chi-Town, Second City, and City of the Big Shoulders. In the mid-18th century, the area was inhabited by the Potawatomi , an indigenous tribe who had succeeded

5760-426: The shore of Lake Michigan , Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837 near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed . It grew rapidly in the mid-19th century. In 1871, the Great Chicago Fire destroyed several square miles and left more than 100,000 homeless, but Chicago's population continued to grow. Chicago made noted contributions to urban planning and architecture , such as

5850-444: The southwestern edge of the Valparaiso Moraine , which encircles the lake's southern half, creating the Chicago Outlet River. This was a substantial river, comparable to today's Niagara River , and over time it carved the channel later used by the main and south branch of the Chicago River , the Des Plaines River , and the terrain that became the Chicago Portage. As the glacier continued to retreat, it opened another outlet far to

5940-447: The steel industry in Chicago, but the steel crisis of the 1970s and 1980s reduced this number to just 28,000 in 2015. In 1966, Martin Luther King Jr. and Albert Raby led the Chicago Freedom Movement , which culminated in agreements between Mayor Richard J. Daley and the movement leaders. Two years later, the city hosted the tumultuous 1968 Democratic National Convention , which featured physical confrontations both inside and outside

6030-400: The strategic importance of the Chicago Portage, in 1803 the new country of the United States built Fort Dearborn at the mouth of the Chicago River to guard it. In 1848 the opening of the I&M canal allowed water transportation from the mouth of St Lawrence River through Chicago to the Mississippi River and the vast ranch and farm lands drained by it. The population of the City tripled in

6120-448: The unemployed. In the spring of 1937 Republic Steel Works witnessed the Memorial Day massacre of 1937 in the neighborhood of East Side. In 1933, Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was fatally wounded in Miami, Florida , during a failed assassination attempt on President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt . In 1933 and 1934, the city celebrated its centennial by hosting the Century of Progress International Exposition World's Fair . The theme of

6210-488: The venue over the years were Red Saunders , whose band was in residence from 1937 until 1945 and later returned in 1947. The band stayed until the club closed in 1958, Fletcher Henderson , Count Basie , Sun Ra , Johnny Pate , Joe Williams , LaVaughn Robinson , George Kirby , Sonny Cohn , Earl Washington , Leon Washington , Albert Ammons , LaVern Baker , and Reverend Gatemouth Moore (1946–1947 and 1948–1949). The Club DeLisa closed its doors on February 16, 1958, after

6300-449: The visual arts, literature , film, theater , comedy (especially improvisational comedy ), food , dance, and music (particularly jazz , blues , soul , hip-hop , gospel , and electronic dance music , including house music ). Chicago is home to the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Lyric Opera of Chicago , while the Art Institute of Chicago provides an influential visual arts museum and art school . The Chicago area also hosts

6390-420: The water level in both the Des Plaines River and the Chicago River would rise to the point that Mud Lake was flooded, and travelers could traverse the entire six miles by canoe.  Usually, however, particularly in late summer, it was necessary to pull out canoes at some point and carry them and all supplies around Mud Lake. The Chicago Portage allowed easy access, by boat, to almost all of North America, from

6480-664: The waterfront. Landfill extends into portions of the lake providing space for Navy Pier , Northerly Island , the Museum Campus , and large portions of the McCormick Place Convention Center. Most of the city's high-rise commercial and residential buildings are close to the waterfront. An informal name for the entire Chicago metropolitan area is "Chicagoland", which generally means the city and all its suburbs, though different organizations have slightly different definitions. Major sections of

6570-481: The west end of the portage at the Des Plaines River they paddled east through Portage Creek and through the marsh that would later be known as Mud Lake.  At the east end of the marsh they portaged their boats, equipment, and supplies over a low rise of land that was the St Lawrence River continental divide.  They then entered the South Branch of the Chicago River, and paddled north to the Fort. If water levels in

6660-481: The world's first skyscraper in 1885, using steel-skeleton construction. The city grew significantly in size and population by incorporating many neighboring townships between 1851 and 1920, with the largest annexation happening in 1889, with five townships joining the city, including the Hyde Park Township , which now comprises most of the South Side of Chicago and the far southeast of Chicago, and

6750-422: The “Checageu River”, and the “Portage des Chenes” (the portage of oak trees), the name the French originally attached to the Portage. If water level in the portage was high enough to allow passage by canoe for most of the way, passage across the portage was relatively easy. Accounts from soldiers stationed at Fort Dearborn , at the mouth of the Chicago River, describe a passage from west to east.  Starting at

6840-431: Was John H. Rauch, M.D. Rauch established a plan for Chicago's park system in 1866. He created Lincoln Park by closing a cemetery filled with shallow graves, and in 1867, in response to an outbreak of cholera he helped establish a new Chicago Board of Health. Ten years later, he became the secretary and then the president of the first Illinois State Board of Health, which carried out most of its activities in Chicago. In

6930-747: Was a better way to return to Lake Michigan. Travelling by stages up the Illinois River to the Des Plaines River , in September 1673 members of the Caskaskia, a tribe of the Illinois Confederation, led Jolliet and Marquette to the western end of what became known as the Chicago Portage. During the 18th century, the Chicago Portage was one of the most strategic locations in the interior of the North American continent for

7020-534: Was also used to control the water's directional flow. The history of the Chicago Portage begins at the end of the last Ice Age . It was formed as the Wisconsin glaciation retreated northward about 10,000 years ago, leaving behind Lake Chicago (now called Lake Michigan), which was created from the glacier's meltwater. As the glacier melted and retreated, the water in Lake Chicago rose until it overflowed

7110-472: Was called the Society for Human Rights . It produced the first American publication for homosexuals, Friendship and Freedom . Police and political pressure caused the organization to disband. The Great Depression brought unprecedented suffering to Chicago, in no small part due to the city's heavy reliance on heavy industry. Notably, industrial areas on the south side and neighborhoods lining both branches of

7200-462: Was founded in 1837, most of the early building was around the mouth of the Chicago River, as can be seen on a map of the city's original 58 blocks. The overall grade of the city's central, built-up areas is relatively consistent with the natural flatness of its overall natural geography, generally exhibiting only slight differentiation otherwise. The average land elevation is 579 ft (176.5 m) above sea level . While measurements vary somewhat,

7290-578: Was held in a purpose-built auditorium called the Wigwam . He defeated Douglas in the general election, and this set the stage for the American Civil War . To accommodate rapid population growth and demand for better sanitation, the city improved its infrastructure. In February 1856, Chicago's Common Council approved Chesbrough 's plan to build the United States' first comprehensive sewerage system. The project raised much of central Chicago to

7380-478: Was incorporated on Saturday, March 4, 1837, and for several decades was the world's fastest-growing city. As the site of the Chicago Portage , the city became an important transportation hub between the eastern and western United States. Chicago's first railway, Galena and Chicago Union Railroad , and the Illinois and Michigan Canal opened in 1848. The canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on

7470-506: Was one of the first bands to perform there, in March 1966. Although Adderley's October 1966 album Mercy, Mercy, Mercy! Live at 'The Club' was supposedly recorded at the venue, it was in fact recorded at Capitol's Hollywood studio with a live audience. It was the tracks later released on Money in the Pocket that had been recorded live at The Club. Chicago, Illinois Chicago is

7560-530: Was paved and became part of US Route 66 . The earliest Europeans to cross the Portage saw the potential for a canal dug along the route of the Portage. Louis Jolliet, after his first passage, opined that a canal across “… only a few leagues of prairie…” could link the Great Lakes with the Mississippi Valley. Eventually, Joliet’s vision came to reality in the form of the Illinois and Michigan (I&M) Canal which opened in 1848. Recognizing

7650-500: Was re-opened as The Club in 1966. The Club DeLisa was owned by the four DeLisa brothers, Louis, John, Jimmy and Mike. It opened in 1934 following the repeal of prohibition. In 1941, the original building burned down but was soon replaced with the New Club DeLisa, which was a larger space. Nightly "revue-style entertainment" at the club was presented in a variety show format. The show featured singers, comedians, dancers, and

7740-461: Was repealed. The 1920s saw gangsters , including Al Capone , Dion O'Banion , Bugs Moran and Tony Accardo battle law enforcement and each other on the streets of Chicago during the Prohibition era . Chicago was the location of the infamous St. Valentine's Day Massacre in 1929, when Al Capone sent men to gun down members of a rival gang, North Side, led by Bugs Moran. From 1920 to 1921,

7830-477: Was resolved by 1933, and at the same time, federal relief funding began to flow into Chicago. Chicago was also a hotbed of labor activism, with Unemployed Councils contributing heavily in the early depression to create solidarity for the poor and demand relief; these organizations were created by socialist and communist groups. By 1935 the Workers Alliance of America begun organizing the poor, workers,

7920-414: Was spared this hard work.  He went on to describe the hardships of crossing the Portage in its natural state. After a hard day of work crossing the portage, the men camped near the river at the west end of the portage.  But their discomfort was not yet over, as Hubbard’s account continues. This map of the Portage, superimposed on the map of early Chicago, shows that the most important trails in

8010-529: Was the largest of these settlements and the best example of how native society was evolving.  It was located at the confluence of the Mississippi River , the Missouri River , and the Illinois River and was therefore a key to the trade network that had developed. Given that copper from the northern shores of Lake Superior have been found at archeological digs at Cahokia, and that Mississippian pottery has been found at sites at northern Lake Huron , it

8100-462: Was used in very dry conditions when there was insufficient water in the Des Plaines River. As commerce over the portage grew, local entrepreneurs developed services to help travelers using the Portage.  One such were the wagon roads that made commerce over the Portage much easier during dry periods.  An example is the Ottawa trail that started as a pathway, became a wagon road, and ultimately

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