| Address | S Fork of Chicago River at W Levee & W Fuller Sts |
|---|---|
| Built | 1838-48 |
| Architect | Not stated |
| Status | Designated Chicago Landmark |
| Designation Date | May 9, 1996 (Final)City Council Journal of the Proceedings, p. 21826 |
| Neighborhood | Bridgeport |
| Type | Site and commemorative |
| Landmark ID | L-119 |
Direct quotes from the Chicago Landmark Designation Report
“The first Commission was dissolved in 1825, and the next year the state legislature attempted to establish a private joint stock company to built the canal. When it became clear that the new state did not have the financial resources to sufficiently fund construction of the canal by either public or private means, the legislature dissolved this corporation and petitioned Congress for a land grant.”
“The activity the canal generated was the first impetus that vaulted Chicago from a large town of 25,000 when it opened in 1848, to the second largest city in the country, a metropolis of 1.7 million, only fifty years later.”
“In 1822, Illinois lobbied successfully to have the Congress deed the canal bed and ninety feet of land on each side of it to the state. The first Canal Commission was created the next year, and engineer Justus Post and map maker Rene Paul were hired to survey the area defined by the Treaty of 1816.”
“The impetus toward canal development was a factor in determining government policies toward Native American tribes, had influence in the positioning of boundaries between Midwestern states, and decided the location of what have become some of the largest cities in the nation.”
“East of Ashland Avenue, the site that had been occupied by the original hydraulic works of 1848, the point where the bridge had connected the origin of the canal to Bridgeport, and the site of the first lock and freight transfer, is now vacant land.”
“Beaubien's contract for the first section of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, including the opening of the canal at the confluence, specified that 71,016 cubic yards of earth were to be moved at a total estimated contract worth $27,277.66.”
“The position of the supply channel relative to the main canal and the first lock was clearly indicated on a map of the plat for the new town of Canal Port that was drawn in about 1845 (Figure 2).”
“These technological innovations proved to be important for the construction of the Panama Canal a decade and a half later. Shipping on the Sanitary and Ship Canal started in 1906 when the Calumet-Sag Canal was completed, connecting the Calumet River with the inland waterways.”
“To this end, President James Madison recommended in an address before Congress in 1814 that a canal be built to connect the Great Lakes with the Mississippi through the Chicago Portage.”
“Begun in 1890 and opened from the South Branch of the Chicago River at Damen Avenue to Lockport on January 2, 1900, the Sanitary and Ship Canal was a marvel of modern engineering, having a bottom that was 24 feet below the mean water level of Lake Michigan.”