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| Jeff Nichols -> Forgotten Chicago Chicago River, State, Clark and Fifth Avenue (Wells) Bridges, 1875. NYPL |
Just four years after the 1871 fire, the bridges and buildings along the Main Stem of the Chicago River had been rebuilt.
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| USACE, Chicago District posted 1935 with some traffic congestion in the Chicago River! Do you think this beats out our current I-90/I-94 traffic? |
I never realized the river had been dredged so wide by 1857.
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| Eric J. Nordstrom posted chicago, 1857. the bird's-eye view engraving is from an original gager & company's 1856-57 city directory of chicago. drawn by george j. robertson. courtesy of bldg. 51 archive. |
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| Glen Miller posted fascinating picture of the river in 1898 with all the swing bridges still in place. If the bridgetender wasn't paying attention, people might get trapped in the middle of the river and have to wait it out. A relatively unknown but still active swing bridge crosses the North Branch of the Chicago River at a bend in the waterway roughly one block south of Cortland Street. Built in 1899 by the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul Railway (commonly referred to as the Milwaukee Road), the bobtail swing bridge is still active. It is left open so as not to impede river traffic. [The bobtail bridge is no longer active.] Paul Webb shared |
(Update: Neil Gale's blog has photos of the river from the 1970s when the Medusa Challenger used it.)
A WTTW set of then-and-now photos explicitly shows the changes.
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| Stanley Przewoznik posted Wolf Point from a dirigible in April 1925. William Shapotkin posted Long before buildings (constructed on "air rights") covered over the north approach to Chicago Union Station, this is what the north approach looked like. Note the long-gone Lake St Tower at right (next to the LAKE St 'L bridge). Photo taken from a dirigible looking east in 1925. (Found this photo on the facebook page (are you ready for this?) "Beer drinking, bicycle riding, Chicago photography club.") Michael Maitland Great photo. The CNW yards on the left, current location of the Merchandise Mart. CNW passenger at the bottom as well. Raymond Kunst posted Wolf Point from a dirigible, April 1925. Raymond Kunst shared Carlton Marcyan: Merchandise Mart not to be built for another 3 years! Christopher N. Kaufmann: They just started demolishing buildings on South Water street for the new 2-level Wacker Drive. The old Wells street station looks like it’s still standing. Stanley Prezewoznik posted Wolf Point from a dirigible in April 1925. James Broughton That’s how they delivered huge rolls of newsprint paper to the Sun Times building. James Broughton Tribune would have also until ‘81 when printing moved to the facility at Chicago Ave & Halsted. Was a young architect in a small architectural firm housed in a one bed room unit on the 9th floor from ‘84 to about ‘89 I think. View was west over Cassidy Tires. Abe Calhoun Look at all those lovely untouched Victorian buildings in the loop! Stanley Przewoznik Both Cassidy Tire and the ice house are still there. Donald L Leone Jr The funny angled triangular sectioned structure with terne coated stainles steel roofs is a distinctive building with a tube steel structure and multiple cantilevers. It is called "River Cottages" and was originally owned, developed, & built by Harry Weese in approx 1991-2; the structure has nautical references while the Fulton Street ice house swith its massive masonry walls was converted to condos in late 1970s by Harry with new openings in the walls for recessed balconies and a checkerboard pattern of window openings cut thru the once blank solid thick masonry walls . My Father worked there in the 1950's moving ice cream, At one time, Harry owned much of the land north from the Kinzie street bridge along the north branch of the river adjacent to the old rail yards; he wanted to build a new marina on the river where now sits the Kinzie Terrace development and the East bank Club.. the 4 and 5 story "cottages" ; 4 units total with personal elevators and tremendous views of the riverfront are unique and the closest to being a single family home in downtown chicago on the waterfront. Mr Weese, my mentor was ahead of his time and certainly a conscience for the city of Chicago to better the architectural environment thru historical restoration, adaptive reuse, and preservation. Harry was an early voice to the saving of the Auditorium Theater and many other Chicago landmarks as well as numerous buildings on the National Register thru out the USA. Kevin R Doerksen Sadly, Cassidy Tire is soon to be demolished and replaced by a hi rise condo building. Michael O'Connor Wow look at that! Dearborn still has a swing bridge. Can’t see how those weren’t obstructing to River traffic. John Tkalec Michael O'Connor I think that's the Clark St bridge. Jeff Bransky Zoom in. You can see Wacker Drive under construction at the west end. Then look to the right. You can see the Lake Street L still turned south on Market Street but it is about to be dismantled.ichael Warren I Just found out why I could not find merchandise Mart. ChicagoLoopBridges shared The bridge that is open is Franklin-Orleans St. Going east, the bridges are Wells, Clark, Dearborn, State, and Michigan. Lower right is Lake St and lower left is Kinzie St. The Carroll St railroad bridge is there, connecting to the railroad lines on the north side of the river. In 1925, no LaSalle, Wabash, Columbus, or Lake Shore Dr! |
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| Historic Chicago posted Aerial taken over the river at Michigan Ave (1950) Historic Chicago posted again with the same cmment. |
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| 1 of 7 photos posted by Eric J. Nordstrom a few of the latest original early to mid-20th century silver print photographic images of downtown chicago added to bldg. 51 archive. |
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| Historic Chicago posted Chicago River (1940s) [Some comments agree that the fist bridge is Dearborn.] | Jesse Contreras | : I started coughing looking at this photo. | Paul Petraitis: | Photo credit please! |
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| John Chuckman PHOTO – CHICAGO – CHICAGO RIVER BRIDGES ALL UP AS IN SALUTE – FOR UNKNOWN BOATS – WATER-LEVEL VIEW – 1972 |
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| Eric J. Norstrom posted seldom seen original 8 x 10 photographic image of giaver and dinkelberg's jewelers building (1927) with the four corner roof tanks and 17-story tower under construction. the 40-story cream-colored terra cotta building (renamed the pure oil building in 1928) was erected by the starrett-dilks company of chicago. courtesy of bldg. 51 archive. [The buildings that were along the river have been removed to make room for Wacker Drive. And we see the west end of the C&NW State Street Yard on the right.] |
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| Barry Butler Photography posted Saturday's So Long To Sailing. Sailboats returning this morning from summer fun on the Lake Michigan in Chicago. [I wonder how long the round hole for the Chicago Spire is going to exist.] |
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| Historic Chicago posted Chicago River (1940s) |
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| Bridges Now and Then posted Looking east along the Chicago River at the LaSalle Street Bridge prior to completion, 1928. (Chicago Historical Society) Raymond Kunst shared |
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Copyleft (CC BY-NC-ND): Copelin Commercial Photographers,
James S. Parker and Chicago Photography (University of Illinois at Chicago)
[A comment pointed out the boxcar in the lower-left corne, a vestige of when Wolf Point was a railyard.]
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| Peter Dubiel posted In 1909, architects Daniel Burnham and Edward H. Bennett drew up a plan but it wasn’t till early 1920’s when Charles H. Wacker, chairman of the Chicago Plan Commission, pushed the idea of the double-decked roadway along the river, intended to relieve the congestion of the city's north–south traffic that crossed the Chicago River. Wacker Drive was completed in 1926 at a cost of $8 million and named after Charles Wacker. The 1926 section stretched from Lake Street to Michigan Avenue. |
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| Historic Chicago posted, cropped From the rooftop of the Mandel-Lear Building. (1962) [Marina City is being built and ships are delivering newsprint to the Sun Times Building.] |
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| Historic Chicago posted Marina City towers at dusk on 300 North State Street. (1965) |
Kevin Linear posted two pictures with the comment: "Last set lol!! Wow!!" (Unfortunately, I don't know where the previous sets were.)
3 of 5 photos posted by Erick J. Nordstrom.
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| Jeff Nichols posted Chicago River, 1940. Indiana University. Patricia Armell This is looking west from State St. The foreground is part of the substructure work for the State St bridge which finally opened in 1949. The Dearborn St bridge is a rolling lift type bridge, replaced in 1963. The Clark St and LaSalle St bridges seen in this photo are the current bridges. See ChicagoLoopBridges for more info. |
3 of 5 photos posted by Erick J. Nordstrom.
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| ChicagoLoopBridges, 2016 [Note they are raising just the north leafs. The double decker that is in the most up-right position is Wells. So the photographer must be standing on the Dearborn. Bridge] |
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| Patricia Armell shared Growing up in Chicago's photo 1950s - Chicago This photo was taken on the Wells St bridge looking east. You can see the Reid-Murdoch building on the left just beyond the LaSalle St bridge. In the distance, you can see (left to right) the Mather building, the Carbide building, and the Jewelers building. |
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| Patricia's comment on her posting Here is a similar view in 2015 after the Wells St bridge was rebuilt. |
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| Kenneth Swedroe posted [Note the construction on State Street Bridge] |
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| Glen Miller posted November 13, 1949, the last navy ship in a fourteen ship flotilla passes by the Clark street bridge in the afternoon. Seven ships made the journey in the morning and seven ships in the afternoon. All 16 bridges were opened at the same time to speed the operation, but in the afternoon, it takes much longer and the CTA has to run their trains in circles infuriating even more Chicagoans. The ships spend the night at Western Ave. and continue on their way to the Gulf where they will be mothballed. |
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| Chicago's Past History of The Windy City posted, also VintageTribune
Chicago 1955
Looking east down the Chicago River As a barge inches its way under the bridge From Chicago Past Philip Wizenick That was the largest ship ever to pass through the Chicago River. She was too long for the controlling lock at the lake. She ( I have forgotten the ships name and am too lazy to look it up ) was towed in, the outer gates opened and the tugs strained to pull her against the flood of water from the lake. When she cleared the inner gates, they were closed and she was towed out into the lake. Dennis DeBruler The advertisement on the side of the Kraft building is "Jim Beam." I did not realize whiskey was one of Kraft's products back in 1955. Or maybe Jim Beam was willing to pay a lot of money to use the side of Kraft's building. This is also an excellent view of the C&NW State Street Yard before Marina City bought the air rights. |
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| Cyndi Pinner-Martinez posted Chicago River, Looking East Toward Lake Michigan, 1875. [Back when Wolf Point was a lumber yard. And just grain elevators and industry on the north side of the river. You can also see the grain elevators in the background on the south side where the IC yards were. It is interesting how wood grain elevators were ethe "skyscrappers" of this era.] |
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ChicagoLoopBridges shared Jeff Nichols's photo
Chicago River, November 1963. Chicago History Museum.
Michigan Ave bridge in the foreground. Sun Times and Marina City just beyond. A great Chicago photo!
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| MWRD posted Another brilliant historical photo of the Chicago River from 1946 provided by Frank Pajak [C&NW State Street Yard is in the right foreground.] |
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| MWRD posted Great historical photo of the river in 1905 |
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| MWRD shared Jim Jasiota's photo Bridges up, passing the Wabash Ave bridge, 1949, Chicago |
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| MWRD shared Glorious photo of the Chicago River [Looking East. Wells Street and LaSalle Drive are the raised bridges.] |
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| My America posted Chicago, Illinois |
Looking the other way.
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| Angalia Bianca posted Love waking up to this! [According to her comment, this was taken from the hotel next to the London House.] |
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| HRutledge Carmichael commented on My America's post Here's looking at you ( from a few floors above the clock tower on the left ) |
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| My America posted Chicago, Illinois |
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| CTA posted
Did you know the first new 'L' cars to come with air conditioning were introduced in 1964? This picture, from around 1965, shows a 6-car train of 2000-series railcars—the first series to come with A/C—crossing the Lake Street Bridge over the Chicago River. The train is in Lake Street "B" service (which would have operated from Harlem/Lake to downtown, via the Loop, and back, stopping at only stops designated either "B" or"AB" stations).
Today, all of our nearly 1,500 cars are air conditioned—and we do a lot to keep it running and our trains comfy.
To make sure you've got a comfortable ride ahead when it gets warm, we do a pre-season inspection on the air conditioning systems on each of our cars, and re-check it throughout the season as part of regular, periodic inspections our cars receive.
When it's warm, the A/C is turned on in the yard as part of preparing them for service and checked to verify they're cooling down before a train goes out—this way, they're comfy right when the first passengers board. Cars are then regularly checked-on throughout the day by operations staff for any issues, including air comfort.
If A/C stops mid-route, the air in a car—even with the blowers on—can get hot pretty quickly—especially with all the hot electrical equipment under the floor and the sun beating in through the windows, so when an issue is detected we try to take the car out of service as quickly as possible for repair.
If you ever get on a car that's uncomfortably hot, you can help us fix it faster by letting us know right away--often, the operator can fix it on the spot or at least open certain windows for added ventilation, and make sure a crew is ready at the terminal to take the cars out of service and replace them with comfortable ones for the next trip out.
The best way to help us help you faster is to notify the train's operator right away by using the call button—there's at least one in every car, below a light fixture that has a blue tint over part of it.
Thanks, and stay cool out there!
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| Growing up in Chicago posted 1972 |
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| Midwest Living posted (source: MWRD) Chicagoland = winter wonderland in this snap by @david.sowa. |
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| Grateful Visuals posted Happy St.Patrick's Day [2024] from Chicago! [The comments have a couple more photos of the green river.] |
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| MWRD shared Aerial view of the Chicago River, looking east from the Merchandise Mart. This picture is from 1951. |
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| Joseph Obrien commented on a MWRD share [Is that barge headed out onto the Lake? I can't think of any industry left along the river.] |
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| (Armando L. Sanchez / Chicago Tribune) Ice floats populate the Chicago River earlier this month. Libby Hill's book, "The Chicago River: A Natural and Unnatural History," explores the history and precarious future of our main waterway. [You have to scroll down a ways, but Rick Kogan's article includes a photo gallery of 21 photos of the Main Stem that you can click through.] |
This is NOT the main stem. I had assumed it was because of the canyon of glass. But I soon realized that this is looking south down the South Branch from Wolf Point.
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| RideOnRTA (source) |
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| MWRD shared Looking SW at the Michigan Avenue Bridge while it is closing after a ship passed. You can see the ship and other bridges fully open ahead. Chicago, 1962. |
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| Vibecke Knudtzon Gausel posted [The album referenced in the comment.] |
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VintageTribuneThe three bridges in action are Wabash, State, and Dearborn. Clark and LaSalle are in the distance. So many bridges, hard to keep in order |
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| Lawrence Shoop posted Chicago River Lasalle Street and Wacker Drive Lasalle Bridge in 1928 Johnny Weekend Once upon a time that was the old traffic court building....Jonathan Tuttle The building across the river with the clock was used as a makeshift triage during the Eastland disaster. The Eastland was moored along the dock directly across the river. http://www.eastlanddisaster.org/history/location [My SS Eastland notes] |
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| Historic Chicago posted Bridges up, passing the Wabash Ave bridge (1949) |
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| Historic Chicago posted A view from the south side of the Chicago River (1890s) David Daruszka A view from the south side of the Chicago River A view from the south side of the Chicago River taken in the 1890s and showing the J.S. Kirk & Co. soap factory on the north river bank next to present site of the Tribune Tower. The lower portion of the west wall of the factory now supports the wall of Michigan Avenue between North Water Street and the river. (Tribune archive photo) Jeff Bransky Looks like the Rush Street Bridge in the lower left corner. Todd Shaw Amy where we would eat lunch outside of CPS. |
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| Pierre Hamon shared Chicago - 1950s |
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| Pictures in Time posted 1960... [In the background, a gas-o-meter is still standing.] |
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| John Tkalec posted (source) Looking east on the Chicago River from the Rush Street Bridge towards Lake Michigan. The Columbus Dr, Lake Shore Drive & Michigan Ave Bridges did not exist at the time. The Rush St Bridge was demolished in 1920. The Kirk Soap Works is on the left. Circa 1905. Jan Erkenbrack I still use Kirk's Castile soap today. A great soap at a good price. Available at your local supermarket. Uptown Theatre - Chicago Love the photo. Where is it from? John Tkalec  Uptown Theatre - Chicago http://industrialscenery.blogspot.com/.../ogden-slip-and...Somewhere on this site. |
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| John Kierig commented on John's post "Between 1856 and 1920 there were four bridges that crossed the Chicago River at Rush Street. All of them, except the last one (Rush Street Bridge #4) were destroyed by some sort of accident (cattle, fire and collision). Even though this was not the location of the first bridge built across the Chicago River (that honor goes to Dearborn Street), it was considered the first bridge due to its location near the mouth of the river." –Chicagology |
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| Joseph Copak commented on John's post I didn’t know that Spencer & Bartlett (in background) started “True Value”. Neat picture |
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| HAER Gallery from il0705, page 1 |
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| Page 2 |
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| Historic Chicago posted The Chicago River as seen from the Rush Street Bridge (1880s) [Michigan Ave Bridge wasn't built until 1920, so Rush was the eastern most bridge at that time. We can see IC's freighthouses and gran elevators on the south side of the river.] |
Julio A Godinez posted two photos with the comment: "Beautiful by day as it is at night."
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| My America posted Chicago, Illinois 🌁 📸: [instagram.com/borntoseephoto] |
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| borntoseephoto instagram [This is one of several he had when the river is green for St. Patrick's day. Click the left arrow for some more green river photos.] |
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| I Love USA posted Chicago, Illinois 🌃🌆 📷: [instagram.com/mmeyers76] [A photo of the river after it was dyed green for St. Patrick's Day] Lost in USA posted |
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| USA Art & Architecture posted Chicago ❤ 📸: @shimmycastlephotography😍 👉 https://www.instagram.com/chicago.explore/ |
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| USA Art & Architecture posted Chicago ❤ 📸: @thefacetpixel😍 |
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| USA Art & Architecture posted Chicago ❤ 📸: @bluu.ig 👉 https://www.instagram.com/chicago.explore/ |
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| USA Art & Architecture posted |
Chicago ❤
📸: @freduccini😍
👉 https://www.instagram.com/chicago.explore/
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| Lost in USA posted Chicago, Illinois 📸 @_alexqian |
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| Deejah Taylor posted Chicago bridges |
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| Love USA posted Chicago, Illinois |
In older photos, Cassidy Tire helped me orient as to which direction the photographer was facing. But in later photos it was not of much use because you could no longer see it from the railroad scenes because of the tall building that had been built around it. I wondered when it would be replaced by a tall building.
Rafel Ochoteco posted three photos with the comment: "Almost gone... 6.3[2022]"
Robert Moynihan: I worked on their piece of junk elevator for years. No heat in the building except the office.
Mike Stahulak: Sad another tall building going up, in a area that traffic can't handle.
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| Greeta Hootman posted The river was blue/green today [Sep 26, 2024]. |
Barry Butler Photography:
- Chicago Afternoon on the River
- Sunset on the River On the First of October in Chicago
- A sign of spring --- a river tour boat, not a robin
- Helicopter shot of the river died green for St. Patrick's Day
- Another view of the green river
- 2023 green river
ChicagoLoopBridges shared a photo with the Clark and Dearborn bridges being raised for a "boat run."
ChicagoLoopBridges posted an incredible photo of four open bridges to make way for a MLC300 on a barge.
Video of dying the river "Cubbie Blue" before the parade celebration of winning the World Series. In case you have been living in a cave, the last time they won the World Series was 108 years ago. This video provides an interesting view of the bridges and the "canyon of skyscrapers" along part of the main stem.
CNN video about a Springtime boat run.
A video about the history of Chicago's movable bridges (source) The bridge pictured at -1:14 when it talks about the first trunnion bridge at Cortland is a Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge.
Link posted by ChicagoLoopBridges
A video of different photos of the mouth of the river (source)
A video of the new riverwalk.
A 360-degree video The main stem starts around -8:00. Unfortunately, the camera is soon jerked around some. But it gets placed above the cab again.
A video about the movable bridges
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