Nature Bulletin No. 646   September 9, 1961
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
John J. Duffy, President
Roberts Mann, Conservation Editor
David H. Thompson, Senior Naturalist

****:THE SKOKIE LAGOONS

The Skokie Lagoons and their surroundings comprise a remarkable 
development of which we in the Forest Preserve District are extremely 
proud. They lie in the valley west of three north shore suburbs -- 
Wilmette, Winnetka and Glencoe -- between Willow Road and Dundee 
Road. They fulfill a dream of many people for many years: the 
transformation of a great marsh, ruined by drainage ditches, into an area 
as notable for its scenic beauty as for the recreation it provides.

The Skokie valley lies between two broad ridges of glacial drift. 
Originally, the southern portion was an elongated shallow bay of 
ancient Lake Chicago when that ancestor of Lake Michigan was at its 
highest level. As the lake level dropped the bay became a marsh. Into 
and out of it flowed a stream, now called the Skokie River or East Fork, 
that drained a watershed extending northward beyond Waukegan. 
Emerging, its course was deflected westward by a long sand bar until, 
joined by the Middle Fork, they could turn southward and, joined by the 
West Fork, form the North Branch of the Chicago River.

Chewab Skokie, meaning "big wet prairie", was the Potawatomi name 
for that marsh. Until this century it had a distinction and beauty all its 
own. Mysterious and fascinating in all seasons, impenetrable in places 
with tall grasses and wildflowers, teaming with waterfowl, wading 
birds, songbirds, muskrats, mink, turtles and fish -- the Skokie marsh 
was a resource for unlimited exploration and enjoyment. In flood times 
it became a shimmering lake from ridge to ridge.

The topsoil was mostly peat and muck from one to four feet deep, 
underlaid by glacial clays including an impenetrable rubbery layer. By 
1900 a group of Hollanders were raising choice "Glencoe horse-radish" 
in rich loamy soils along the eastern border; and 20 years later the 
marsh had been almost completely drained by speculators who sought, 
unsuccessfully, to convert it into truck farms.

Because the outlet was inadequate, during spring floods it became a 
lake that inundated adjacent property and all roads in the valley. In dry 
autumns the peat beds, ignited by fires in the rank vegetation, burned 
for months and shrouded the countryside with dense acrid smoke. 
Mosquitoes were also a serious nuisance.

By 1933 the Forest Preserve District had acquired most of the Skokie 
marsh and lands on both banks of its outlet. As recommended in 1929 
by the Advisory Committee to the Board of Commissioners, plans for 
its conversion into a series of lagoons -- and a clay model -- had been 
completed. So, when the Civilian Conservation Corps was created in 
1933, ten companies were allocated to this huge project. Using heavy 
equipment, and aided by several thousand CWA workers, construction 
proceeded continuously until 1942. Four million cubic yards of earth 
were excavated.

Now there are seven lagoons with a total normal water area of 190 acres 
and a flood plain of 434 acres. They are held within undulating dikes of 
the excavated material by a main control dam at Willow Road. Three 
low dams maintain three water levels close to the surface of several 
marshy islands. The lagoons provide fishing, boating, waterfowl refuges 
and, along their shores, many attractive picnic areas. A ruined marsh 
has become a beautiful recreational area.