Chicagos’ Hidden Waterway
One of the most majestic sights in Chicago is the Chicago River, which runs through the heart of downtown from Lake Michigan to Lockport Illinois. The majesty of a river of that size lends a certain beauty to the city's skyline.
But the river wasn't always beneficial to the city and thanks to some ingenuity and a bit of luck, the city was saved from a cholera plague. In 1865 the river flowed west to east carrying city sewage into Lake Michigan, the city's fresh water source. By 1887 the city government permanently reversed the flow of the river so it ran east to west and the city was saved. However, one of the river's branches which flowed southward from the river became a canal which ended in a stagnant marshland, a place which would later be named Bubbly Creek.
The direction of the creek ran southward toward what would be the Stockyards then west terminating at Western Blvd running along 39th st. Remnants of the now covered branch can be seen at McKinley Park in the shape of a small lagoon. The most intriguing part of Bubbly creek is the part that still remains near the Stockyards, Bubbly Creek got its name because everyone who lived near there used it as a dumping ground, including the meatpacking companies who would throw animal waste and unused chemicals in. The resulting methane and hydrogen sulfide gas mixture gave the creek its permanent signature feature, bubbles erupting from the bottom.
The reason this story is on Supernatural Ventures, you see, people have been known to go missing in and around Bubbly Creek making the area a hotspot for spectral activity.
Growing up in the Back of the Yards we were always told to stay away from the creek or La Llorona would get us, funny enough I always had a sense of dread going near it, not because of a woman in white, but because I felt others had died there and were never found. In the early 1900s the pollution was so bad it was said one could literally walk across it, and some never made it across, they just sank underneath and were never found.
I wrote a story (The Butcher) outlining how in the early 1900s’ one could conceal a murder by disposing of a body in Bubbly Creek. Alarming as it seems, as of this writing 4 bodies have been found in the creek lately despite the fact that it has been cleaned up for the most part.
My intent is to conduct a paranormal investigation at Bubbly Creek to see what kind of feedback I can get, perhaps I will hear from a lost soul or two. With the creek's reputation I may just get lucky, good thing I can swim.