Jean Baptiste Pointe DuSable’s settlement at the mouth of the Chicago River is the heart from which the city of Chicago was built. As time passed, and ownership of the land changed, its history has been smudged, so much so that most people had no idea he lived there until the mid 20th century.
DuSable, Kitihawa and their children first showed up in what later became Chicago during the 1780s. They built a five-bedroom home, a horse mill, a bake house, a dairy, a smokehouse, a poultry house, a workshop, a stable, a barn, an orchard, and huts for DuSable’s employees. The family lived and worked on this land for at least a decade. It is unclear why DuSable moved his family to St. Charles, Missouri, where he ended up living a modest life as a ferry operator.
[Hover over the map on desktop, or press the map on mobile, to activate the magnifying glass to see the “Kinzie Mansion,” situated on the property where DuSable’s settlement stood years before. Interactive map works best on Google Chrome browser. Map courtesy of the Chicago History Museum].