The River Runs Backward
A city sent its sewage to someone else's drinking water, and beat the lawyers to it.
Listen to this place’s story in Peplos.
How the story begins
Chicago began turning its river backward in a hurry, because it was afraid of a judge. On 2 January 1900 the Sanitary District let the river into its new canal, quietly and with no ceremony. The city drank from Lake Michigan, and its sewers ran into a river that ran into the same lake. So it had cut a channel through to the Des Plaines River at Lockport. Once that was open, the river would turn round and carry the sewage away from the lake, down toward the Mississippi.
The rest is in the app. Peplos plays the full story when you reach the place. You can also listen ahead of time.
Visiting
The Chicago Riverwalk, south bank, near State Street. Public and free. The river can also be seen from the bridges above.
Sources
- Missouri v. Illinois, 200 U.S. 496 (1906)
- Missouri v. Illinois, 180 U.S. 208 (1901)
- Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, Wikipedia
- Then and now: Sanitary and Ship Canal, Shaw Local
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