Grand and Little Calumet River Ancestor: Konomick and Hegewisch

It always struck me as strange that Grand Calumet River is a lot smaller than Calumet River. It is even smaller than Little Calumet River. But it did use to be navigable. And some lakes were filled in to make more land to develop. These maps help study the changes. Where the Little Calumet River ran through swamps, it got straightened and widened. I wonder how much of this was done as part of the MWRD effort to reverse the flow of the Calumet River and how much was done as part of a 9-foot channel waterway project. Given the path of the river in the 1929 topo had the old configuration, I would say the river was "moved" by the waterway project. By the 1953 topo, the river had today's configuration.

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May 2020: I learned why it was grand. It used to be all of the water in this area headed East and went into Lake Michigan on the east side of Gary, IN.

Dennis DeBruler posted

A forgotten river: Konomick River.

Lake Chicago was about 60' higher than today's Lake Michigan because ice age glaciers covered today's outlet down the St. Lawrence River. Lake Chicago drained to the Gulf of Mexico through the Des Plaines and Sag Valleys. Glacier moraines and Lake Chicago sand dunes forced the water shed of northeast Indiana to first flow into Illinois, then do a U-turn close to Blue Island and then flow back across Indiana to empty into the lake where Marquette Park is now.

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.6196147,-87.2603622,657m/data=!3m1!1e3

This topo map almost shows this old river configuration. Konomick River existed until the channel I circled in red was dug between 1809 and 1820.

1892 Calumet and 1900 Tolleston Quadrangles @ 1:62,500

Before that channel was dug, the Grand Calumet River would have been rather grand. A watershed in northeastern Indiana would have flowed from west to east in this riverbed on its way to Lake Michigan east of Gary. But after the circled channel was dug, much of the water changed direction and flowed to Lake Michigan at the Calumet River mouth instead of the Konomick River mouth. This reduced the flow into the lake so much that sand bars from Lake Michigan closed the mouth of the Konomick River and completed the reversal. So Chicagoland reversed a river long before the famous sanitary canal reversal in 1900.

http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/203.html

 

Dawn Marie Galtieri posted
Another good one, showing the Chicago area under water thousands of years ago, during Glenwood period (more than 12,000 years ago)

A map shows the course of the Konomick River, but the river is labelled with modern names. (I can't include the map because of copyright issues. When you click the link, note the fourth button in the upper-left corner of the viewing area is "Toggle full page".) 

Five maps from the 1800s showing the river had been changed by 1851. (LoC)

Michael Mora posted
Excerpt from great 1853 Army Engineers map of Lake Michigan shoreline, showing area that later became Southeast Chicago and surrounding regions. When railroads first crossed through oldest part of what became South Chicago, then known as Ainsworth. Thinly dotted areas closer to lakefront and around rivers must be swamp/wetlands. I think thicker dotted areas were forested. And guessing zigzag lines along lakefront mark dunelands and dashed lines further inland are Indian and/or wagon trails. Link to full map, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/200168108/5/public...
Dennis DeBruler: The map is old enough that it still shows the Konomick River (Little+Grand Calumet) entering the lake at Marquette Park.

Comments on Dennis comment on Michael's post

Paul Petraitis posted
Chicago in the 1760's, map by Hutchins
The ever-changing hydrography of the Calumet Region!
The dotted line from the Chicago/Mudlake Portage south and then southeast around the Calumet Region corresponds to Vincennes venue in Chicago and Route 3o as they moved into Indiana.
Thomas Hutchins was a Brit cartographer associated with the 8th Regiment afoot out of Mackinac that trekked through the region in 1760-62. The data from those early reconnaissance assignments was used when Hutchins finally published this map in the 1770's. By that time he'd left the Brits and became the official cartographer of the newly minted United States Of America!
[A larger excerpt of the map is in the comments.]
Marie Eenigenburg Min shared

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I'm also reminded that many Chicago neighborhoods such as Bridgeport and Hegewisch were independent towns back in the days of stage coaches.

David Mireles posted
Bob Lalich Very interesting map. It shows how isolated Hegewisch was at the time. The only road in and out was Chittenden. The railroads had Hegewisch stations.
Sonny Kortvely Is there a map of the proposed housing on Torrance about 122nd north of calumet river. I hear people talk about it every now an then but never seen any maps or pictures.
Bob Lalich Sonny Kortvely, a good portion of the land north of the river and west of Torrence Ave was subdivided but I don't think there was any serious plan for a housing development.
Robert Leffingwell I wonder how many voters live at those addresses?
Paul Petraitis I was surprised to read that the calumet River ran straight north about 1/4 west of the present route in the early 1830's...a big spring freshet moved it to its present location at that time!
Steve Malachinski I would say that station was right about where the outlet from Wolf Lake is that goes towards the old mill property on Avenue O
Marty Gatton Bob Lalich... many of the city issued maps I receive at work still show the streets platted out in the swamp.

Paul Jevert shared
1880s

David Mireles commented on his post
David Mireles Circa 1881.

David Mireles commented on his post
Circa 1904

David Mireles commented on his post
Circa 1904

1929 Calumet Lake Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

1953 Calumet Lake Quadrangle @ 1:24,000

Rod Sellers posted

 

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