Everything Goes Media

SDC staff and Police Officers outside of a field office, 1895. (MWRD photo, Geiger set, image 97)

SDC engineers outside of a field office, 1895. (MWRD photo, Geiger set, image 188)

A typical Rock Section contractor compressed air and steam power plant is to the left; kitchen and housing buildings are to the right, mid-1890s. (MWRD photo, disc 7, image 20)

Buildings in the Section 7 contractor’s construction camp, 1895. Most workers lived on site due to the lack of roads and public transportation. Each construction contractor’s camp was often composed of one dominant ethnic group. (MWRD photo, Geiger set, image 141)

An innovative use of spoil rock for local housing or shelter in Section 7, 1895. (MWRD photo, Geiger set, image 291)

This 1895 photo shows the popularity of the project to reverse the flow of the Chicago River. Here we see a group of thrill seekers in a hopper under a cableway high above the excavation of the Main Channel in Section 6. Many attendees to the 1893 Columbian Exhibition in Chicago made an effort to see this project also. Numerous tours by engineers and public officials occurred over the years. (MWRD photo, Geiger set, image 127)