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1900 Map of Highwood

Name: 1900 Topographic Map of Highwood
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1910
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1910

About this map

Fort Sheridan and the rugged shoreline of Lake Michigan anchor the northeastern edge of this northern Illinois landscape, surveyed just before the turn of the century. The map illustrates a region in the midst of a suburban transformation, where early rail-oriented settlements like Highland Park, Ravinia, and Glencoe follow the lakefront bluff. Inland, the Desplaines River meanders southward through Wheeling and Maine, serving as a natural corridor alongside the developing prairie towns of Arlington Heights and Desplaines.

The complex network of the Chicago and Northwestern R.R. and the Chicago Milwaukee and St. Paul R.R. highlights the rail-driven economy of the era. Smaller, now-evolved locales such as Aptakisic, Half Day, and Niles Center appear as distinct crossroads communities. This record captures the transition from rural township farming to the early residential expansion that would eventually link these distinct outposts into a continuous metropolitan corridor.