Archer Avenue

Archer Avenue (Archer Road)
Ronald J. Bragassi Memorial Road
State Street (Lockport and Fairmont only)
Archer Avenue in Garfield Ridge, north of Midway Airport
Part of IL 83 / IL 171
Length33.6 mi (54.1 km)
LocationJolietChicago
Southwest endDartmouth Avenue (turns into Collins Street locally)41°35′49″N 88°03′14″W / 41.59704°N 88.053834°W / 41.59704; -88.053834
Northeast endState Street (approx. 1900 South) 41°51′23″N 87°37′38″W / 41.856514°N 87.627172°W / 41.856514; -87.627172

Archer Avenue, sometimes known as Archer Road outside the Chicago, Illinois city limits, and also known as State Street only in Lockport, Illinois and Fairmont, Illinois city limits, is a street running northeast-to-southwest between Chicago's Chinatown and Lockport. Archer follows the original trail crossing the Chicago Portage between the Chicago River and the Des Plaines River, and parallels the path of the Illinois and Michigan Canal and the Joliet Subdivision of the Alton Railroad. As a main traffic artery, it has largely been replaced by the modern Stevenson Expressway.

The street was named after the first commissioner of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, William Beatty Archer.[1] One early map of Chicago[2] (ca. 1830) listed what may have been the future Archer Road as "The Road to Widow Brown's"[nb 1].

  1. ^ Encyclopedia of Chicago Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Map of Hardscrabble Area, 1830
  3. ^ "Nature Bulletin 738 Early Cook County Roads -- Park One". Nature Bulletins. Forest Preserve District of Cook County (Illinois). 1964-01-11. Retrieved 2009-04-28.


Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).