Chicago River (redirected from Chicago River (United States))

Chicago River

River, northeastern Illinois, U.S. A small river, consisting of a northern and a southern branch, it originally flowed through Chicago into Lake Michigan. After a severe storm in 1885 caused the river to empty large amounts of polluted water into the lake, the river's flow was reversed by constructing a canal, completed in 1900, the building of which was considered a significant engineering feat. Now flowing inland, it is connected with the Des Plaines River by the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.