Editing Alsip, Illinois (section)

==Geography==
[[Image:AlsipWaterTower.png|thumb|left|upright|This is one of the two water towers which are notable landmarks with their dark red color and fluted shaft.  Both are visible to travelers on [[Tri-State Tollway|I-294]].]]
Alsip is located at {{coord|41|40|14|N|87|43|56|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline}} (41.670433, -87.732199).<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=2011-04-23|date=2011-02-12|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref>

According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, Alsip has a total area of {{convert|6.63|sqmi|km2|2}}, of which {{convert|6.53|sqmi|km2|2}} (or 98.49%) is land and {{convert|0.10|sqmi|km2|2}} (or 1.51%) is water.<ref name="gaz2021">{{Cite web |title=Gazetteer Files |url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html |access-date=2022-06-29 |website=Census.gov}}</ref>

Alsip is bordered to the west by the villages of [[Worth, Illinois|Worth]] and [[Palos Heights, Illinois|Palos Heights]]. To the south is [[Crestwood, Illinois|Crestwood]]. [[Oak Lawn, Illinois|Oak Lawn]] lies to the north. [[Merrionette Park, Illinois|Merrionette Park]], [[Blue Island, Illinois|Blue Island]], and [[Robbins, Illinois|Robbins]] lie to the east (north-south, respectively). The [[Mount Greenwood, Chicago|Mount Greenwood]] neighborhood of [[Chicago]] lies to the north and east.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=41.670433,-87.732199&spn=0.10,0.10 |title=Google Maps |publisher=Google Maps |date= |access-date=2014-06-13}}</ref>

Most of the town lies to the north of the [[Cal-Sag Channel]]. However, Chippewa Ridge subdivision, which was built upon the former Alsip Nursery, lies southwest of the Cal-Sag. In conjunction with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Water Reclamation District of Chicago, the village operates a boat launch on the canal, permitting inland access to [[Lake Michigan]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alsip.org.il/Boat%20Launch.htm |title=Boat Launch |website=www.alsip.org.il |access-date=17 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080507103122/http://www.alsip.org.il/Boat%20Launch.htm |archive-date=7 May 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

The Alsip area is home to two predominantly African-American cemeteries, [[Burr Oak Cemetery|Burr Oak]] and [[Restvale Cemetery|Restvale]] cemeteries, which are the resting places of many [[Chicago blues]] musicians (including [[Muddy Waters]], [[Willie Dixon]] and [[Dinah Washington]]), athletes ([[Jimmie Crutchfield]]), and other celebrities. [[Emmett Till]], whose murder in [[Mississippi]] at age 14 in 1955 was an important moment in the [[Civil Rights Movement]], is buried at Burr Oak. In 2004, that cemetery was covered in the national media when the murder investigation was re-opened, and Till's body was exhumed.<ref name="exhume">{{cite news |title=Body of '55 civil rights victim returned to grave |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna8059747 |agency=Associated Press |date=2005-06-04 |access-date=2007-08-24 }}</ref>

Six years later, on July 9, 2010, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart alleged that four workers at Burr Oak cemetery dug up more than 200 graves, dumped the bodies into unmarked mass graves, and resold the plots to unsuspecting members of the public. The three men and one woman were charged and convicted with one count each of dismembering a human body.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://chicagocrusader.com/remains-burr-oak-cemetery-scandal-reburied/|title=Remains from Burr Oak Cemetery scandal reburied - Gary/Chicago Crusader|website=Chicagocrusader.com|date=19 May 2016 |access-date=25 January 2019}}</ref>