Cap Streeter's Kingdom
He claimed the city's richest shore as his own country, and it still has his name.
Listen to this place’s story in Peplos.
How the story begins
George Streeter met callers with a shotgun and whiskey, on land he said was not in Illinois at all. In 1886, by his own account, a storm put his little steamship, the Reutan, on a sandbar off Superior Street, about here. He could not free her, so he stayed. Sand built up around the hull. Contractors dumped fill beside it, and in time it joined the shore. That made about 186 acres of new land, between the mouth of the river and Oak Street.
The rest is in the app. Peplos plays the full story when you reach the place. You can also listen ahead of time.
Visiting
Public streets in Streeterville, free to walk at any time. Nothing of the sandbar or the boat can be seen.
Sources
- Two men named Cap and how Streeterville got its name, Rick Kogan, WBEZ
- Historic artifacts uncovered in Streeterville, FOX 32 Chicago, 2026
- George Streeter, Wikipedia
- George Wellington Cap'n Streeter, Chicago Public Art
- Chicago's Last Pioneer, Troy Taylor
- Lost Communities of Chicago, Dr. Neil Gale
- Hooray for Captain Streeter, WBEZ, 2012
- Crews digging in Streeterville uncover artifacts, FOX 32 Chicago, 2026
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