Geographic area in northwest Indiana and northeast Illinois, United States
41°33′N
87°27′W
/
41.55°N 87.45°W
/
41.55; -87.45
The
Calumet Region
is the geographic area drained by the
Grand Calumet River
and the
Little Calumet River
of northeastern
Illinois
and northwestern
Indiana
in the
United States
. It is part of the
Great Lakes Basin
, which eventually reaches the Atlantic Ocean. It is a sub-region of the greater
Northwest Indiana
region and the even larger
Great Lakes region
.
This region includes the northern parts of
Lake
and
Porter
counties and the western portion of
La Porte
county in Indiana, as well as the eastern counties of northern Illinois,
Will
and
Cook
.
[1]
Since much of this region is on the south shore of
Lake Michigan
, it is sometimes referred to as the "South Shore". Because it was initially cut off from the rest of the state due to natural geographic barriers like the Kankakee Marsh to the south, the Calumet Region was the last-settled portion of Indiana.
[1]
The area is known for its industrial heritage and history as a center for production of
steel
,
minerals
and
chemicals
. The toxic byproducts of these industries present major issues for
public safety
and
natural resource management
today.
[2]
The region was a center for the
labor rights
movement of the 1930s. The
Memorial Day massacre of 1937
, where ten steelworkers' rights activists were killed by police officers during a demonstration, occurred on Chicago's southeast side.
[3]
Today, Calumet is notable as a site of many
habitat restoration
projects. The area contains many endangered
dune
,
Swale
, and
moraine
based ecosystems.
[4]
Many
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
sites, such as Powderhorn Prairie, 95th/Dan Ryan Woods, and Eggers Grove are being restored under the care of volunteer stewards.
[5]
In addition, nonprofit groups partner with the Forest Preserve District and
Chicago Park District
to complete larger-scale restoration projects. Major partners include
The Field Museum
,
the Wetlands Initiative
, and local branches of
The Nature Conservancy
,
Green Corps
and the
Student Conservation Association
.
[6]
Many of these sites have become host to locally rare and threatened species like
Blanding's turtle
,
Wilson's phalarope
and the
least weasel
.
[7]
Cities
[
edit
]
The Calumet Region includes the Indiana cities of
Gary
,
East Chicago
,
Hammond
,
Highland
,
Griffith
,
Munster
,
Merrillville
,
Schererville
,
Hobart
,
Whiting
,
Crown Point
,
Dyer
,
Saint John
, and
Valparaiso
.
In Illinois a number of cities and villages lie in the Calumet watershed including: the southernmost part of
Chicago
,
Lansing
,
Calumet City
,
South Holland
,
Riverdale
,
Burnham
,
Calumet Park
, and
Blue Island
Townships
[
edit
]
The Calumet Region includes land from the following Indiana townships in Porter County:
Portage
,
Union
,
Westchester
,
Liberty
,
Center
,
Pine
,
Jackson
,
Washington
. It includes land located within the following townships of Lake County:
North
,
St. John
,
Calumet
,
Hobart
, and
Ross
. It also includes
Coolspring Township
in La Porte County.
Origin
[
edit
]
The name
Calumet
is said to come from French interpretations of either the
Potawatomi
name for the rivers and lake in question (“low body of deep, still water”)
[8]
or is a corruption of the Old French term
Chalemel
, which means "reed". The word appears on early maps as
Cal-La-Mick
,
Kil-La-Mick
,
Calumic
, etc.
[1]
History
[
edit
]
Historical population
Census
| Pop.
| Note
| %±
|
1890
| 96,371
| | ?
|
---|
1900
| 120,193
| | 24.7%
|
---|
1910
| 172,749
| | 43.7%
|
---|
1920
| 254,761
| | 47.5%
|
---|
1930
| 367,850
| | 44.4%
|
---|
1940
| 409,813
| | 11.4%
|
---|
1950
| 513,073
| | 25.2%
|
---|
1960
| 699,003
| | 36.2%
|
---|
1970
| 770,744
| | 10.3%
|
---|
1980
| 792,395
| | 2.8%
|
---|
1990
| 750,103
| | ?5.3%
|
---|
2000
| 786,077
| | 4.8%
|
---|
2010
| 819,537
| | 4.3%
|
---|
2015 (est.)
| 813,915
| [9]
| ?0.7%
|
---|
The first known print reference to refer to this area as a distinct geographical region is the 1755 map created by John Mitchell. In this map, however, he referred to the geographic region as "Quadoche", a name that the
Iroquois
had given to the
Potawatomi
that were known to occupy the region at that point in time.
[11]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
Moore, Powell A. (1959).
The Calumet Region: Indiana's Last Frontier
. Indiana Historical Bureau
. Retrieved
August 20,
2015
.
- ^
Reese, Sarah (2016),
Northwest Indiana Times
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/special-section/ec-lead/a-century-of-heavy-industry-transformed-east-chicago-s-calumet/article_2e8a104e-2ae9-5f42-9142-a74829c6ea85.html
- ^
Franklin, Steven (2017),
The Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/chi-chicagodays-republicsteelstrike-story-story.html
- ^
US Geological Survey, Great Lakes
https://www.glsc.usgs.gov/publications/2002/1170
- ^
Vaisvilas, Frank (2018).
The Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/daily-southtown/news/ct-sta-winter-volunteers-st-0116-20170113-story.html
- ^
Calumet Stewardship Initiative
http://www.calumetstewardship.org/member-organizations#.WfInHnZOmUk
- ^
Dorworth, Leslie (2010).
Grist
http://grist.org/article/2010-07-07-cleanup-efforts-bring-life-back-to-grand-calumet-river/
- ^
Calumet River-Frontal Lake Michigan
Archived
2015-10-21 at the
Wayback Machine
, Watershed Central Wiki, U.S. EPA, quoting from the "City of Chicago Calumet Land Use Plan"
- ^
"US Census QuickFacts"
. Retrieved
June 24,
2016
.
- ^
United States Census Bureau
.
"Census of Population and Housing"
. Archived from
the original
on May 7, 2015
. Retrieved
June 24,
2016
.
- ^
Meyer, Alfred H. (September 1954). "Circulation and Settlement Patterns of the Calumet region of Northwest Indiana and Northeast Illinois (The First Stage of Occupance-the Pottawatomie and the Fur Trader-1830)".
Annals of the Association of American Geographers
.
54
(3): 245?274.
doi
:
10.1080/00045605409352136
.