GEORGE WELLINGTON “Cap” STREETER

It would not be too much to say Cap Streeter was a scoundrel. First famed for questionable seamanship, Cap ran his steamboat the 35-ton REUTAN onto a sandbar 400 feet off the north shore near the foot of Superior in 1886. During the long construction boom following the Great Chicago Fire, Cap encouraged contractors to dump rubble into the Lake near his boat (he may even have charged them for the privilege). This eventually created 180 acres of landfill around his vessel. Cap called this “The District of Lake Michigan,” claimed the land, and fought off other claimants at gunpoint.

 

Eventually Cap was subdued by the “authorities,” many dubious characters in their own right. There are pictures of Cap, in top hat and frock coat, behind bars. But his funeral was attended by over 5,000 people and although he did not ultimately profit from his celebrated “land grab,” Cap is famous for giving his name to the most valuable part of downtown Chicago - Streeterville.

 

A sculpture by Dennis Downs of Cap carrying his dog stands at the corner of Grand and McClurg Court. His Russell Terrier, “Spot” is so lifelike that dogs often bark at him as they pass by.