The Reader’s archive is vast and varied, going back to 1971. Every week in Archive Dive, we’ll dig through and bring up some finds. On July 4, 1836, while the United States was celebrating 60 years of independence, Chicagoans were preparing to dig a ditch that would change the course of the city forever. In 1987, Peter Friederici looked back on that day in his piece “The ditch that made Chicago happen.”
But Friederici didn’t just look to the past, he revisited the historic canal’s path through the city and noted the changes along the route since the water first flowed. The biggest change, of course, is the sheer number of people in the area—only 100 people lived in Chicago. The commute must have been a breeze.
