Little Fort Road (Lincoln Ave)
Subject: Little Fort Road (Lincoln Ave) Plaque
Series: Native Chicago
Location: Chicago (Lincoln Park), IL.
Address: 2335 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60614 (map)
Date: 10/10/2023
Camera: Canon S110
Plaque Inscription
“Little Fort Road
Here began the Little Fort Road, now Lincoln Avenue, and Indian Trail which became main road to Little Fort or Waukegan the first important settlement north of Chicago.
Erected by Chicago’s Charter Jubilee | Authenticated by Chicago Historical Society | 1937″
History
Note: Non-Native description.
Originally it was a Native American trail running along a slight ridge in the usually soggy ground of pre-settlement Chicago. Prior to the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the street was known as Little Fort Road, and it led to the town of Little Fort, now known as Waukegan, Illinois. In Morton Grove it was known as Miller’s Mill Road.
– Wikipedia, Lincoln Avenue (Chicago)
“Abraham Lincoln, sixteenth President of the United States. This is one of the few diagonal streets in Chicago. Prior to Lincoln’s assassination the street was known as Little Fort Road as it led to the town of Little Fort, now Waukegan, Illinois“
– Wikipedia, List of Chicago placename etymologies
“In 1841 the residents of Lake County, which had split from McHenry County in 1839, voted to move the county seat from Burlington (now Libertyville) to Little Fort, where county commissioners had recently bought some land. The state granted a charter for Little Fort to become a town in 1849. The charter included a provision that allowed a majority of voters to change the name to Waukegan, an option that they immediately exercised. “Waukegan” is a Potawatomi word for “Little Fort,” a name recognizing the 18th-century French trading post that had existed on the site. In 1859 Waukegan reincorporated as a city.”
– Encyclopedia of Chicago, Incorporation Act of Little Fort, 1837
Photographs
Native Chicago
Native Chicago is a series of artworks by Ihanktonwan Dakota artist David Bernie that discusses the relationship Native American and First Nations communities have with the city of Chicago.
Creative Commons License
This work by David Bernie is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. You may download, share, and post the images under the condition that the works are attributed to the artist.
