Chicago Maritime Museum
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    • MODEL BUILDING >
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  • History
    • Commerce and the Waterways
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  • Collections
    • Artifacts >
      • Lyle Gun
      • Wells Light
    • Canoes >
      • Tete-de-Boule Birchbark
      • Canadian Birchbark Canoe
      • Eskimo Caribou Skin Kayak
      • Greenland Eskimo Kayak
      • U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Craft
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      • Chicago Lighthouse
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      • Le Griffon
      • Lady Elgin
      • Challenge
      • Subchaser 1943
      • USS Wolverine
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History​

A picture is worth... a thousand words

The waterways in our region determined the location of the city of Chicago and impacted our history. On the eve of statehood in 1818, Illinois moved its northern boundary sixty-one miles north to include the southern tip of Lake Michigan so that one state could control the vital link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River system.

Our maritime history links Lake Michigan, the Chicago River, Lake Calumet, as well as beaches, deep tunnels, and pumping stations. It involves many nationalities and ethnicities of canoeists, schoonermen, lumbershovers and recreational boaters.
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From Chicago’s Christmas Tree tradition to naval pilot training off Navy Pier, Chicago’s waterways are a major influence on our area and its productivity. Enjoy browsing our pictorial archives (and those of the Chicago Historical Society and Chicago Yacht Club, as well) and reading our stories. If you have material to share, please contact us at info@ChicagoMaritimeMuseum.org.

From the archives

Commerce and the Waterways
Military Training
Shipwrecks
Recreation and Tourism
Chicago Maritime Museum is a 501(C)(3) Nonprofit registered in the US under Tax ID 36-3205719
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Chicago Maritime Museum®. ​Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
  • Home
  • VISIT
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
  • Events
  • SUPPORT US
    • Donate >
      • Donate to the CMM Recovery Fund
      • Donate to the CMM General Fund
      • Sponsor
    • Join
    • Volunteer
  • EDUCATION PROGRAMS
    • MODEL BUILDING >
      • WOOD CARVING CLASS
      • MODEL BUILDING CLASS
      • SHIP-IN-A-BOTTLE CLASS
    • SCHOOL VISITS
    • CHICAGO HISTORY CURRICULA
  • History
    • Commerce and the Waterways
    • Military Training
    • Shipwrecks
    • Recreation and Tourism
  • Collections
    • Artifacts >
      • Lyle Gun
      • Wells Light
    • Canoes >
      • Tete-de-Boule Birchbark
      • Canadian Birchbark Canoe
      • Eskimo Caribou Skin Kayak
      • Greenland Eskimo Kayak
      • U.S. Coast Guard Rescue Craft
    • Images >
      • Chicago Lighthouse
      • Lady Elgin
      • Rush Street Bridge
      • Fort Dearborn
    • Model Watercraft >
      • Le Griffon
      • Lady Elgin
      • Challenge
      • Subchaser 1943
      • USS Wolverine
  • News
  • Online Stories