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1965 Map of Lake Calumet

Name: 1965 Topographic Map of Lake Calumet
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1966
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1966

About this map

Industrial infrastructure and dense neighborhood networks define the South Side of Chicago and Northwest Indiana during the mid-1960s. The landscape is dominated by the massive basin of Lake Calumet, a hub for shipping and manufacturing anchored by the Thomas J O'Brien Lock and Dam. To the south, the planned community of Altgeld Gardens stands near the winding Little Calumet River, while the heavy rail presence of the Pennsylvania RR and Illinois Central RR crisscrosses the region.

The map reveals a deeply parochial landscape of parish schools and churches, such as St Michael High Sch and St Mary Magdalen Sch, which served the immigrant and working-class populations in South Deering and Hegewisch. The Illinois Indiana State Line bisects the recreation areas around Wolf Lake, showing the transition from the urban density of Burnside to the expanding industrial fringes of Hammond and Calumet City.