The Lost Panoramas of the Chicago River Reversal (original) (raw)

Photography Wed Dec 14 2011

A boat heads east on the Chicago River through the State Street bridge in 1910.

Independent Chicago publisher City Files Press just relased a new photography book documenting the reversal of the Chicago River. The Lost Panoramas: When Chicago Changed its River and the Land Beyond draws from nearly 22,000 photographs made between 1894 and 1928 for the Sanitary District of Chicago. The result is a gorgeous volume chronicling the development of the engineering marvel, its context and its effects. As Booklist reviewed, "Williams and Cahan profile the players, elucidate the technological innovations, track the politics, and document the beneficial and catastrophic consequences of this massive and hubristic tinkering with nature."

Check below the fold for a video providing an overview of the book as well as some additional sample photographs.

The book is available for purchase directly from City Files Press.

A view of the the Stockyards Slip, which connected the Stockyards to the South Fork of the South Branch of the Chicago River, in 1924.

The view from Buffalo Rock along the Illinois River in 1907.

The State Street Bridge while under construction in 1902.