Forgotten Lands, Places and Transit

Almost eight (!) years ago, I came up with my own list of ideas for new rail trails in the Chicago area , that might piggyback off of the success that The 606 Trail has had with regards to community redevelopment, developing excellent bike infrastructure, and connecting neighborhoods across Chicago's North Side. One of the proposals at that time was just gaining steam, the Englewood Trail, which would use a abandoned spur owned by Norfolk Southern Railway between 58th and 59th St in Chicago's Englewood neighborhood, and if all goes according to plan, will be opening as a linear park late next year! While projects like the 606 or the High Line focused heavily on recreation and aesthetics, the Englewood project is designed as an economic and ecological engine. It aims to serve the people currently living in the neighborhood by addressing decades of systemic disinvestment through urban agriculture and local job creation. For those following the history of Chicago’s industrial ar...

Block 61 at Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie has a rare quality that I'm always seemingly chasing: the feeling that something important used to be here… and that the land is still deciding what to do with it. Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie is a federally protected prairie reserve near Wilmington, Illinois, managed by the U.S. Forest Service. Established in 1996, it is the first national tallgrass prairie in the United States and serves as a major ecological restoration project on former Joliet Army Ammunition Plant land, which served the war efforts of both World War II and the Vietnam War. The name chosen was “Midewin,” derived from the Potawatomi word referring to a traditional society or gathering of healers. Today's blog focuses on the Block 61 trail to the east; which in many spots feels less like a nature hike and more like an archaeological survey of the Cold War. Men only want one thing. The thing: Step inside and the temperature drops. Sound flattens. The curved...

There are very few single lane bridges in northeast Illinois remaining, and for mostly good reasons, as the ones that remain are typically substandard and have a streak of being hit by box trucks . Nonetheless, one that I was very sad to see close was in the town adjacent to my hometown, Plainfield's truss bridge over the DuPage River. Roger McCredie, Photographer, December 1991  In a historical narrative about the bridge , historian John B Nolan noted that, as of 1995, it was "the last surviving through truss in Will County, and an example of a bridge type once familiar in Illinois. This truss, built by the Wrought Iron Bridge Company." Before I realized that railroad rights of way were often easily identifiable via aerial images, one of my favorite pastimes was to look at old and unique railroad crossings on Google Maps.  However, this particular crossing wasn't one I'd discovered on Google, but rather out on one of my frequent drives to nowhere; the EJE (now C...