{"nrhp_refnum":"66000108","name":"Chicago Portage National Historic Site","other_names":[],"category":"site","location":{"address":"S. Harlem Ave. at Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal","address_restricted":false,"city":"Forest View","county":"Cook County","state":"IL","lat":41.80762365950005,"lon":-87.80917083391381,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1966-10-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Commerce","Transportation","Exploration/Settlement"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 91-acre wooded site in the Cook County Forest Preserve at Forest View, Illinois, containing the western end of the historic Chicago Portage, including Portage Creek and part of the Des Plaines River channel.","why_significant":"The Chicago Portage linked the St. Lawrence and Mississippi river systems and was a main route for exploration, trade and westward settlement. Joliet and Marquette in 1673 were the first recorded explorers to pass through it, and Chicago grew up at this strategic location. The site is described as the only part of the portage route that retains some of its original setting.","narrative":"Ninety-one wooded acres in the Cook County Forest Preserve at Forest View, Illinois, preserve the western end of the Chicago Portage. The park includes Portage Creek, part of the Des Plaines River channel and Laughton's and Stony Fords, and is kept natural with only trails, parking, restrooms and picnic areas. A boulder and display case mark its importance. The portage connected the Des Plaines River to Lake Michigan by way of Mud Lake and the Chicago River, linking the St. Lawrence and Mississippi systems. Louis Joliet and Father Jacques Marquette passed through in 1673, and LaSalle followed in 1683. The route served the fur trade and later carried settlers and goods west. The Illinois and Michigan Canal, built in 1836, made the portage unnecessary. Late nineteenth-century diversion of the Des Plaines River and the growth of Chicago erased most traces, leaving Mud Lake gone and Portage Creek stagnant. This tract is valued as the one part of the route that keeps some of its original wooded character.","period_of_significance":"1673; 1836","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Kept in a natural state with minimal development (trails, parking, restrooms, picnic areas); condition marked fair; Portage Creek is stagnant and littered.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:35.195302-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/64/8925/28892564/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/66000108.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000108/6a2925f70d-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/66000108/6a2925f70d-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"Zol87 from Chicago, IL, USA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chicago_Portage_National_Historic_Site.jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">Zol87 from Chicago, IL, USA</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Chicago_Portage_National_Historic_Site.jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28892564","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Portage_National_Historic_Site","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5095746"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/cook-county/chicago-portage-national-historic-site-66000108/"}