Canal Land Sales

Source: Newberry Library (Graff 2074 no.1)

Illinois and Michigan Canal commissioners made the first plat of Chicago in 1830 on land granted to Illinois by the federal government. The canal land grant consisted of alternate square-mile sections of land in a strip along the canal roughly ten miles wide and ninety miles long. Land sales continued to repay the cost of the building the canal after it opened in 1848. Illinois and Michigan Canal Lots, 1850.

See also: Illinois Central Railroad; Land Use; Public Works, Federal Funding for; Treaties; Initial Land Sales in NE Illinois (Map)

Post Office Special Delivery Zones

Source: Newberry Library (H65 .922)

Long before the introduction of zip codes in 1963, the U.S. Post Office faced the administrative challenge of organizing space to provide services. In 1900 the Chicago Post Office offered same-day night and Sunday special delivery service in parts of the city, with later hours in the central district. Chicago Post Office Guide, 1900.

See also: Economic Geography; Mail Delivery; Telegraph; Telephony; Transportation

Federal Harbor Improvements

Creator: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Source: Newberry Library (H61 .912)

The first federally funded harbor improvements in Chicago in the 1830s made the Chicago River accessible to boats on Lake Michigan. After the Calumet Sag Channel opened in 1922, linking Calumet Harbor with the Sanitary and Ship Canal, Calumet Harbor became the primary port for the city. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has responsibility for these and other ports in the region.

See also: Calumet River System; Infrastructure; Public Works, Federal Funding for; St. Lawrence Seaway; Water in Chicago (Digital Essay)

A Defense Road

Creator: U. S. Department of Defense
Source: Calumet Regional Archives, Indiana University Northwest, Gary (Lake County, b.2)

In 1970 the U.S. Department of Defense evaluated the emergency transportation needs of the industrial Northwest Indiana. The national importance of defense-related industries in the area led to a recommendation to improve State Route 912 (Cline Ave.). U. S. Department of Defense, Request for a "Defense Access Road" in Lake County, Indiana, 1970.

See also: Cold War and Anti-Communism; Economic Geography; Public Works, Federal Funding for; Transportation; World War II