Ron Grossman, Chicago Tribune reporter did a article today about Captain and Ma Streeter that I found fasinating.
The story begins in 1886 when Captain Streeters excursion boat "The Reutan" lands 400 feet off shore in a sandbar. He piled the sand around his boat and continued to dump garbage until the sandbar touched the mainland.
His claim to land totaled 186 acres of prime lakeshore through squattors and riparian rights.
In 1902 the police finally removed the house where the Captain lived. The John Hancock building is there now.
Today this prime lakeshore is considered the most expensive piece of property whose boundaries are the Chicago River (S), Lake Michigan (E) and Lake Shore Drive (W), Oak Street (N). This area is commonly referred to as the Magnificent Mile.
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