Maps of the location of Chanute's Experiments

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This map of Marquette Park and the north-west section of Miller Beach shows the former location of 'Chanute Hill' - the large dune just northeast of the Lake Street Bridge - that Octave Chanute and his assistants used in their first experiments in the summer of 1896. Since that time the dune has been 'topped' and roads and houses built on it.

 

The map also shows the original course of the Grand Calumet River as it existed in 1896. The mouth of the river leading into the lake was more like marshland and in the dry season often quicksand. The former mouth of the river is now parking for the beach. The course of the river was changed in 1908 with the building of United States Steel Gary Works.Originally, the map on these pages showed the course of the river going due north from the lagoon. In talking with Fred Carr, who grew up on the beach in the 1920's, he told me that the river headed further east and entered the lake east of the Aquatorium.

To locate this area on maps of a wider area refer to the Miller Beach 'locator' map or for even a wider view, the 'recreation map' which extends from Michigan City in the east to Gary in the west.

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The following map shows an overview of the locations for both experiments

Base map for the second map is from Mapquest