Reversal of the Chicago River
While the focus of this examination is the Illinois River from Peoria to Grafton, it is important to understand the details surrounding the reversal of the Chicago River, because it accelerates the most damaging activity within the Illinois River valley - drainage of the floodplain and levee building.
The impetus for the reversal of the Chicago River to rid the city of its sewage is related to human health. Cholera kills 36 residents in 1849; 630 in 1852; and in 1854, 6% of the city dies of the disease. Chicagoans are dying at the rate of sixty per day, with coffins lining the streets. At first, the cause of the diseases is unknown. Some believe the disease is airborne; others blame the Irish and Norwegian immigrants who are here to work on the I & M Canal. Immigrants are quarantined in warehouses.
After six successive years of cholera and dysentery epidemics in the city, the Illinois legislature establishes a permanent Board of Sewerage Commissioners in 1855. The objective is to find a way to rid the city of its sewage. Four ideas are posed as options:
The Commissioners select the first option to dump the wastes into the Chicago River. But will this solve the problem?
By 1880, Chicago is the biggest port in the U.S. As the city grows, the rate of disease continues to grow as well. In 1881, 586 people die of typhoid. In 1891, a total of 1,997 people die of diseases, a rate of 178 per 100,000 population (Figure 14). Typhoid deaths in Chicago are greater than those of any city worldwide, Chicago gains the reputation as “typhoid fever city” (Chicago Public Library). Fears rise that this will discourage visitors from attending the 1893 Columbian Exposition.
Figure 14: Typhoid Death Rates in Chicago 1871-1900 (Chicago Public Library)
