Goose Island Walking Tour
Posted by mark kolodny on 20 April 2004
Mark's photos from the Friends of the Chicago River September 1991 walking tour. Many rare shots!
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On a pleasant Saturday morning in early September of 1991 the Friends of the Chicago River group conducted a walking tour of Goose Island.View looks E-SE at the Milwaukee Road's drawbridge over the North Branch Channel, a canal dug through local clay deposits by brickbuilders in the 1800s. This is what makes Goose Island an island.
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View looks E-SE at the Milwaukee Road's drawbridge over the North Branch Channel, a canal dug through local clay deposits by brickbuilders in the 1800s. This is what makes Goose Island an island.

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Looking SW at the North Branch Turning Basin.Warehouse on the left is on north end of Goose Island
Cranes on the right background service a scrapyard on Magnolia Street.
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Warehouse on the left is on north end of Goose Island
Cranes on the right background service a scrapyard on Magnolia Street.

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Looks like someone had to work on Saturday!These towboats are designed to lower themselves so that bridges do not need to be raised and traffic halted.
Few, if any, facilties north of Fullerton Avenue still utilize barges in 2004.
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These towboats are designed to lower themselves so that bridges do not need to be raised and traffic halted.
Few, if any, facilties north of Fullerton Avenue still utilize barges in 2004.

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Looking west from the bridge to the North Avenue drawbridge and the now-gone Procter & Gamble plant, once an important rail customer for both the CNW and Milwuakee Roadmk_goose_sep1991_19

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At the time, the track on the left ran to a facility just north of Division Street while the track on the right ran down Cherry Street to Halsted Street/Akzo Salt.Sears Tower is in the far background; view looks south.
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Sears Tower is in the far background; view looks south.

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North Branch Channel looking north from Division Street Drawbridge.mk_goose_sep1991_23

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Milwaukee Road/C&E Kingsbury Branch looking NW from the intersection of Halsted and Division Streets.Around this time, service on the line had withdrawn north to a factory near North Avenue.
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Around this time, service on the line had withdrawn north to a factory near North Avenue.

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Commonwealth Edison substation east of Halsted. Kingsbury Branch ran past the base of the towers.mk_goose_sep1991_25

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Looking W-NW from Halsted Street drawbridge over Chicago River's North Branch.Facility on the left is Material Service Corporation cement plant.
Ogden Avenue Drawbridge (now gone) is in background, beyond that are the similalrly vanished silos of a plant on North Branch Street.
The loft conversion process has begun…
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Facility on the left is Material Service Corporation cement plant.
Ogden Avenue Drawbridge (now gone) is in background, beyond that are the similalrly vanished silos of a plant on North Branch Street.
The loft conversion process has begun…

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Halsted Street drawbridge over North Branch of Chicago River.View looks south to intersection with Chicago Avenue.
Chicago Tribune printing facility is to the left, served by the CNW (now UP).
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View looks south to intersection with Chicago Avenue.
Chicago Tribune printing facility is to the left, served by the CNW (now UP).

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N. Cherry Street reconstruction as seen from the soon-to-be-demolished Ogden Avenue overpass.Note the pre-fab rail segments.
View looks north.
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Note the pre-fab rail segments.
View looks north.