Little Calumet River
| Calumet River | |
|---|---|
The Calumet River, with the Chicago Skyway traversing it
|
|
| Basin features | |
| Main source |
Confluence of the Little Calumet and the Grand Calumet, Chicago 581 ft (177 m) 41°38′38″N 87°33′39″W / 41.6438889°N 87.5608333°W |
| River mouth |
Confluence with Lake Michigan, Chicago 574 ft (175 m) 41°43′58″N 87°31′46″W / 41.7327778°N 87.5294444°WCoordinates: 41°43′58″N 87°31′46″W / 41.7327778°N 87.5294444°W |
| Progression | Calumet River → Lake Michigan → Great Lakes → Saint Lawrence Seaway → Gulf of Saint Lawrence |
| GNIS ID | 405379 |
The Calumet River /ˌkæljuːˈmɛt/ is a system of heavily industrialized rivers and canals in the region between the neighborhood of South Chicago in Chicago, Illinois, and the city of Gary, Indiana.
The name "Calumet" is from the French colonial name for a particular type of Native American ceremonial pipe that served as a universal sign of peace among the Illiniwek, and which was presented to Pere Marquette in 1673.
The area is extremely flat and the course and even the direction of the river system has changed repeatedly. The low gradient gives the river only a very small current. Before human alteration, water flowed westward from LaPorte County, Indiana, along the Little Calumet River, made a complete turn, and flowed east along the Grand Calumet into Lake Michigan in the Miller Beach community of Gary, Indiana.
Industrial development in the Calumet River area began around the 1870s, and by 1890 the western reach of the Grand Calumet River was heavily polluted with the waste of steel mills, foundries, a meat packing plant, and glue and cornstarch factories. Industry continued to spread along the eastern reach of the river between 1890 and 1910, with similar results. These decades of unrestricted pollution have left the river sediments highly contaminated to this day.
...
Wikipedia