Bubbly Creek
| Bubbly Creek | |
|---|---|
headwaters of Bubbly Creek and the Racine Avenue Pump Station
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| Other name(s) | South Fork South Branch Chicago River |
| Basin | |
| Main source | Near W. Pershing Road, Chicago 603 ft (184 m) 41°49′24″N 87°38′47″W / 41.8233333°N 87.6463889°W |
| River mouth |
Confluence with the South Branch Chicago River in Chicago 581 ft (177 m) 41°49′33″N 87°39′27″W / 41.8258333°N 87.6575°WCoordinates: 41°49′33″N 87°39′27″W / 41.8258333°N 87.6575°W |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Length | 2 mi (3.2 km) |
| Features | |
| GNIS ID | 1826468 |
Bubbly Creek is the nickname given to the South Fork of the Chicago River's South Branch, which runs entirely within the city of Chicago, Illinois, U.S. It marks the boundary between the Bridgeport and McKinley Park community areas of the city. The creek derives its name from the gases bubbling out of the riverbed from the decomposition of blood and entrails dumped into the river in the early 20th century by the local meatpacking businesses surrounding the directly south of the creek's endpoint at Pershing Road. It was brought to notoriety by Upton Sinclair in his exposé on the American meat packing industry entitled The Jungle.
The area surrounding Bubbly Creek was originally a wetland; during the 19th century, channels were dredged to increase the rate of flow into the Chicago River and dry out the area to increase the amount of habitable land in the fast-growing city. The South Fork became an open sewer for the local stockyards, especially the . Meatpackers dumped waste, such as blood and entrails, into the nearest river. The creek received so much blood and offal that it began to bubble methane and hydrogen sulfide gas from the products of decomposition.
In 1906, author Upton Sinclair wrote The Jungle, an unflattering portrait of America's meat packing industry. In it, he reported on the state of Bubbly Creek, writing that:
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