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1901 Map of Des Plaines

Name: 1901 Topographic Map of Des Plaines
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1917
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1917

About this map

The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and the Illinois and Michigan Canal dominate the northern landscape of this survey, running parallel through the Des Plaines river valley. This industrial corridor was a critical junction of 19th-century water transport and rail infrastructure, featuring the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad and the Chicago and Alton Railroad. In the surrounding highlands, the map documents small agricultural settlements and hamlets before the massive suburban expansion of the mid-20th century.

Local history researchers can trace the early footprints of Lemont, Mokena, and Tinley Park, alongside vanished or evolved locales like Goeselville and Goodings Grove. The southern portion of the quadrangle is defined by the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railroad and the winding course of Hickory Creek, illustrating a landscape of scattered farmsteads and rural crossroads connected by an emerging network of steel and water.