Saga of Streeterville – A Forty Year Real Estate War

George Streeter’s colorful Chicago legacy.

This marvelous bird’s-eye view of downtown Chicago shows the city as it was in 1886, with the shoreline of Lake Michigan ‘filled in’ to reflect the contemporary streets as of 1937. The focus is on the neighborhood of Streeterville, named after an eccentric Chicago ‘businessman’, George Streeter. Street ran his steamboat, the Reutan, aground on a sandbank near Superior St. (point A on the map) in 1886. He laid a spurious ownership claim to the tidal spit upon which his boat rested and, eventually, on the surrounding area as it was built up.

Despite the best efforts of ostensibly legal owners, local authorities, and inclement Lake Michigan weather, Streeter maintained his claims (often through violence) until his death in 1921. His descendants carried on the litigation, apparently prompting this illustration (drawn by William Wisener) and accompanying story in the September 5, 1937, edition of the Chicago Daily Tribune. Over sixty different features across the image are labeled, allowing the audience to have numerous points of reference when considering Streeter’s ridiculous claims.

Source: Chicagology