It has taken us a little longer to prepare this post because we've been exploring the Western Suburbs of Chicago from outer space and the beginning of time. It's heavy stuff, and that was just learning to use the Google Earth! We are happy to say though, we've really got our geek groove on and have set up what we feel will make a nice ongoing piece. This doesn't mean we've given up modern times and people. In fact, we are working on posts about some fabulous local folks for the near future. But for now, let's go back 11,500 years to when the Chicagoland prairies first formed.
Click our Google Earth image above to see it larger
Northern Illinois is known for its harsh environment and this has been going on for a very long time. The entire region was covered by at least 4 glaciers with the Wisconsinan being the last to occur between fifty and fifteen thousand years ago. As it melted back it formed what is known as Lake Chicago which extended from the current lake front to about 2 miles west of where the Des Plaines river now runs. Everything from the City to much of suburban Cook County was once under water, including the villages of River Forest, Oak Park and Riverside. According to our map, LaGrange probably was prime lake front property!
Illinois native grass big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii) in foreground.
Glaciers provided a way for the original native American settlers to reach this land, gave us our familiar flat landscape, great lakes and much more local natural history. We've taken a look and compiled pictures of the Illinois native plants past and present.
Download Pottering Around the Western Suburbs of Chicago.kmz (98.2K)
Use the link above to visit our new local exploration on Google Earth. We will continue to add more information and images to the place.
