At the turn of the twentieth century, when Lake Michigan was at its highest level, the area where the Skokie Lagoons now lie was a large bay of the lake. As the water level dropped and the lake receded, the bay became a marsh. The east fork of the North Branch of the Chicago River ran through that marsh, originating near Waukegan and flowing south to Chicago. The Potawatomi called the marsh Chewab Skokie—meaning, big wet prairie.

Like other wetlands in our area, this marsh was drained by farmers, but their farms weren’t all that successful. Some exceptions were horseradish farms that thrived on the rich, loamy eastern borders of the marsh.

By 1920, the marsh had been so completely drained that the soil turned to dry peat. In wet years, spring rains turned the sink into a lake that flooded the surrounding areas. In dry years, the peat marsh caught fire and smoked, creating an acrid, white cloud stretching from Winnetka to Highland Park.

The Cook County Forest Preserve District (CCFPD) acquired the peat marsh in 1933. That same year, with the largest work crew ever assembled, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) began construction of what we now know as the Skokie Lagoons. With picks, shovels and hand carts, armies of boys aged 17-28 whose families were on the relief rolls moved four million cubic yards of earth, creating seven miles of interconnected waterways.

Jerry Garden, CAS steward for the lagoons, speculates, “Harold Ickes, then head of the Department of Interior, lived six blocks away in Winnetka.” Perhaps that is why the largest CCC project in the country (ten companies) came here.

Since their construction, the lagoons were plagued by pollution influx from surrounding watersheds and a high sedimentation rate. In 1979 the North Shore Sanitary District installed pipes, pumps and channels to redirect wastewater, thus preventing sewage from entering the lagoons.

Filled in over the years to depths of only five or six feet, the lagoons suffered from a fish kill problem when winters were harsh. From 1986-1988 the EPA’s Clean Lakes Program again rerouted wastewater around the lagoons, dredged 1,000,000 cubic yards of sediment, and deepened the waters to 12 feet, which reduced the winter fish kill.

In the early 1990’s, the only fish in the lagoons were carp and bullhead. The Cook County Forest Preserve District began a stocking program with bass, pike and walleye, and now Skokie Lagoons ranks first in the county in largemouth bass and northern pike, as well as carp and bullhead. The lagoons stand third in bluegill and channel catfish, and fourth in black crappie and walleye.

Today, the lagoons meander through Northfield, Winnetka, Glencoe and Northbrook, and are laid out like the links of a chain, separating around an island and coming together again on the other side. They provide some of the best birding opportunities in Chicago, and better wading bird habitat than the rest of the Chicago River. Here, it is possible to see great blue, green and black-crowned night herons, grebes, wood ducks and common loons, and some warblers not seen anywhere else, such as the cerulean and prothonotary.

Since no motor boats are permitted here, the use of canoes, kayaks and sunfish (small sailing crafts allowed on larger lagoons), have made this a boating and fishing haven, with many fishing sites and boat launch ramps dotting the shorelines.

Looped by four miles of the Chicago River Bike Trail, the lagoons are also popular for biking, rollerblading and cross-country skiing.