Editing Chicago River (section)

===North Branch===
[[File:North Branch Chicago River.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Aerial view of the North Branch of the Chicago River, from the south, with [[Goose Island (Chicago)|Goose Island]], near center]]
Early settlers named the North Branch of the Chicago River the Guarie River, or Gary's River, after a trader who may have settled the west bank of the river a short distance north of Wolf Point, at what is now Fulton Street.<ref>{{Harvnb|Quaife|1913|p=138}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Keating|first=William H.|title=Narrative of an expedition to the source of St. Peter's river, Lake Winnepeek, Lake of the Woods, &c., performed in the year 1823 (volume 1)|year=1824|publisher=H. C. Carey & I. Lea|url=https://archive.org/details/narrativeofexped01keat|access-date=October 30, 2010|page=[https://archive.org/details/narrativeofexped01keat/page/172 172]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121112110200/http://archive.org/details/narrativeofexped01keat|archive-date=November 12, 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> The source of the North Branch is in the northern suburbs of Chicago where its three principal tributaries converge. The [[Skokie River]]—or East Fork—rises from a flat plain, historically a wetland, near [[Park City, Illinois]] to the west of the city of [[Waukegan, Illinois|Waukegan]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Hill|2000|p=171}}</ref> It then flows southward, paralleling the shore of Lake Michigan, through wetlands, the Greenbelt Forest Preserve and a number of golf courses towards [[Highland Park, Illinois]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Solzman|2006|pp=63–64}}</ref> South of Highland Park the river passes the [[Chicago Botanic Gardens]] and through an area of former marshlands known as the [[Skokie Lagoons]]. From the west, the Middle Fork arises near [[Rondout, Illinois]] and flows southwards through [[Lake Forest, Illinois|Lake Forest]] and Highland Park. The two tributaries of the North and Middle forks merge at the Watersmeet Woods forest preserve west of [[Wilmette, Illinois|Wilmette]]. From there the North Branch flows south towards [[Morton Grove, Illinois|Morton Grove]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Solzman|2006|p=66}}</ref> The third tributary, the West Fork, rises near [[Mettawa, Illinois|Mettawa]] and flows south through Lincolnshire, [[Bannockburn, Illinois|Bannockburn]], [[Deerfield, Illinois|Deerfield]], and [[Northbrook, Illinois|Northbrook]], meeting the North Branch at Morton Grove.<ref>{{Harvnb|Solzman|2006|p=59}}</ref> In recognition of the work of [[Ralph Frese]] in promoting canoeing on and conservation of Chicago-area rivers, the [[Forest Preserve District of Cook County|forest preserve district]] of [[Cook County, Illinois]] has designated a section of the East Fork and North Branch from Willow Road in Northfield to Dempster Street in Morton Grove the ''Ralph Frese River Trail''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Megan|first=Graydon|title=Ralph Frese, 1926-2012|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2012/12/12/ralph-frese-1926-2012/|access-date=November 18, 2013|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=December 12, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116115351/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-12-12/news/ct-met-ralph-frese-obit-20121212_1_canoe-or-kayak-des-plaines-river-marathon-ralph-frese|archive-date=January 16, 2014|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Ralph Frese, 1926 – 2012|url=http://fpdcc.com/ralph-frese-1926-2012/|work=Forest Preserves of Cook County|publisher=Forest Preserve District of Cook County|access-date=November 18, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116134612/http://fpdcc.com/ralph-frese-1926-2012/|archive-date=January 16, 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The North Branch continues southwards through [[Niles, Illinois|Niles]], entering the city of Chicago near the intersection of [[Milwaukee Avenue (Chicago)|Milwaukee Avenue]] and [[Devon Avenue (Chicago)|Devon Avenue]],<ref>{{Harvnb|Solzman|2006|p=67}}</ref> from where it serves as the boundary of the [[Forest Glen, Chicago|Forest Glen]] [[Community areas in Chicago|community area]] with [[Norwood Park, Chicago|Norwood Park]] and [[Jefferson Park, Chicago|Jefferson Park]]. This stretch of the river meanders in a south-easterly direction, passing through golf courses and [[Cook County Forest Preserves|forest preserves]] until it reaches [[Foster Avenue (Chicago)|Foster Avenue]], where it passes through residential neighborhoods on the north side of the [[Albany Park, Chicago|Albany Park]] community area.<ref>{{Harvnb|Solzman|2006|pp=67–72}}</ref> In River Park the river meets the [[North Shore Channel]], a canal with water pumped from Lake Michigan (at [[Wilmette]]), built between 1907 and 1910 to increase the flow of the North Branch and help flush it into the South Branch and from there to the [[Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal]].<ref name="Hill" /> From the confluence with the North Shore Channel south to Belmont Avenue the North Branch flows through mostly residential neighborhoods in a man-made channel that was dug to straighten and deepen the river, helping it to carry the additional flow from the North Shore Channel.<ref>{{Harvnb|Solzman|2006|p=72}}</ref>
[[File:Chicago River Brown Line 060820.jpg|thumb| The [[Chicago 'L']] Ravenswood train ([[Brown Line (CTA)|Brown Line]]) crossing the north branch of the Chicago River]]
South of Belmont the North Branch is lined with a mixture of residential developments, retail parks, and industry until it reaches the industrial area known as the Clybourn Corridor.<ref>{{Harvnb|Solzman|2006|p=85}}</ref> Here it passes beneath the [[Cortland Street Drawbridge]], which was the first 'Chicago-style' [[bascule bridge|fixed-trunnion bascule bridge]] built in the United States,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=hhdatapage&fileName=il/il0800/il0834/data/hhdatapage.db&recNum=10&itemLink=D?hh:17:./temp/~ammem_xBuT:: |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120630214435/http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=hhdatapage&fileName=il/il0800/il0834/data/hhdatapage.db&recNum=10&itemLink=D%3Fhh:17:./temp/~ammem_xBuT:: |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 30, 2012 |title=North Avenue Bridge: HAER No. IL-154 |author=Hess, Jeffrey A. |publisher=National Park Service |year=1999 |access-date=July 17, 2008 }}</ref> and is designated as an [[American Society of Civil Engineers|ASCE]] [[List of historic civil engineering landmarks|Civil Engineering Landmark]] and a [[Chicago Landmark]].

At [[North Avenue (Chicago)|North Avenue]], south of the [[North Avenue Bridge]], the North Branch divides, the original course of the river makes a curve along the west side of [[Goose Island (Chicago)|Goose Island]], whilst the North Branch Canal cuts off the bend, forming the island. The North Branch Canal—or Ogden's Canal—was completed in 1857, and was originally {{convert|50|ft|m}} wide and {{convert|10|ft|m}} deep allowing craft navigating the river to avoid the bend.<ref>{{Harvnb|Duis|1998|p=95}}</ref> The 1902 [[Cherry Avenue Bridge]], just south of North Avenue, was constructed to carry the [[Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway]] onto Goose Island. It is a rare example of an asymmetric bob-tail swing bridge<ref>{{cite web |url=http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.il0822 |title=Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway, Bridge No. Z-2, Spanning North Branch Canal at North Cherry Avenue, Chicago, Cook County, IL |access-date=May 3, 2009 |work=Historic American Engineering Record |archive-date=March 14, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220314172949/http://loc.gov/pictures/item/il0822/ |url-status=live }}</ref> and was designated a Chicago Landmark in 2007.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chicago Landmarks: Individual Landmarks and Landmark Districts designated as of January 1, 2008 |publisher=Commission on Chicago Landmarks|date=January 1, 2008 |url=http://www.tonythetiger.frih.net/CCL_Booklet_1-1-08.pdf |access-date=October 30, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080227233712/http://www.tonythetiger.frih.net/CCL_Booklet_1-1-08.pdf |archive-date=February 27, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> From Goose Island the North Branch continues to flow south east to [[Wolf Point, Chicago|Wolf Point]] where it joins the main stem.