| Ronald J. Bragassi Memorial Road State Street (Lockport andFairmont only) | |
.jpg) Archer Avenue inGarfield Ridge, north ofMidway Airport | |
| Part of |   IL 83 /IL 171 |
|---|---|
| Length | 33.6 mi (54.1 km) |
| Location | Joliet–Chicago |
| Southwest end | Dartmouth Avenue (turns into Collins Street locally)41°35′49″N88°03′14″W / 41.59704°N 88.053834°W /41.59704; -88.053834 |
| Northeast end | State Street (approx. 1900 South)41°51′23″N87°37′38″W / 41.856514°N 87.627172°W /41.856514; -87.627172 |
Archer Avenue, sometimes known asArcher Road outside theChicago,Illinois city limits, and also known asState Street only inLockport, Illinois andFairmont, Illinois city limits, is a street running northeast-to-southwest betweenChicago's Chinatown and Lockport. Archer follows the original trail crossing theChicago Portage between theChicago River and theDes Plaines River, and parallels the path of theIllinois and Michigan Canal and theJoliet Subdivision of theAlton Railroad. As a main traffic artery, it has largely been replaced by the modernStevenson Expressway.
The street was named after the first commissioner of theIllinois 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].
The east end of Archer begins inChicago's Chinatown, then passes through theBridgeport,McKinley Park andBrighton Park neighborhoods on its way toArcher Heights andGarfield Ridge. Outside Chicago, Archer Avenue/Road passes through the villages ofSummit,Justice,Willow Springs, and the southern edge ofLemont before terminating on the north side ofLockport. Between Summit and Lockport, Archer Avenue is designated as a part ofIllinois Route 171.
Historically, this section of Archer was a part ofIllinois Route 4, the original 1924 highway connectingSt. Louis and Chicago.[4] In 1926, Route 4 was rerouted to the north side of theDes Plaines River on an alignment that subsequently becameU.S. Route 66, and its former route on Archer was redesignated as Illinois Route 4A.[5] By 1939, Route 4A had been extended along most of Archer Avenue into Downtown Chicago.[6] In 1967, Route 4A was truncated back to Summit and merged into Illinois Route 171.[7]
Southwest of Lemont, Archer passesCog Hill Golf & Country Club, the site of numerousProfessional Golfers Association tournaments.
The former site ofArgonne National Laboratory and its predecessor, theUniversity of ChicagoMetallurgical Laboratory in the forest preserve nearRed Gate Woods, can be entered from an access road on Archer Avenue.[8] This was once a secretManhattan Project site, and is now known as theSite A/Plot M Disposal Site.Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1), the world's first nuclear reactor, was moved fromStagg Field to this site in 1943 and renamed Chicago Pile-2 (CP-2). The remains of CP-1, CP-2, andChicago Pile-3 (CP-3) remain buried at this site.
A defunct Playland Amusement Park opened in mid-summer of 1950 which, at the time, was located in Willow Springs, Illinois. Back then, Willow Springs used to be an unincorporated community. The amusement park was located at 9300 West 79th Street in present-day Justice, Illinois.[9]
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Archer Avenue is served by several transit corridors.
Much of theOrange Line parallels Archer Avenue withPulaski,35th/Archer,Ashland, andHalsted stations being located at the said road.Metra'sHeritage Corridor also parallels Archer Avenue.Cermak–Chinatown station on theRed Line provides a direct connection to and from Archer Avenue.[10]
62 Archer is a CTA bus route that complements the Orange Line for much of its route. The route travels from Neva Avenue, located east of Harlem Avenue inGarfield Ridge, to Kinzie Street inRiver North via Archer Avenue, State Street, and Dearborn Street.62H Archer/Harlem runs from Midway station to 63rd Street/Archer Avenue via Cicero Avenue, Archer Avenue, Harlem Avenue, and 63rd Street.[10]
In the southwest suburbs, Archer Avenue historically hosted an interurban line, theChicago and Joliet Electric Railway.[11]
Archer Avenue was made famous byFinley Peter Dunne in his books and sketches about the fictionalsaloonkeeperMr. Dooley, whose tavern was on "Archey Road". The fictional Dooley "lived" in the real-lifeBridgeport, Chicago neighborhood.
Archer Avenue is also famous as the purported haunting place ofResurrection Mary, avanishing hitchhiker who is said to travel between theWillowbrook Ballroom and Resurrection Cemetery.[12][13]
| County | Location | mi[14] | km | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Will | Joliet |  IL 171 south (Collins Street) | Continuation beyond Dartmouth Avenue | ||
| Joliet–Fairmont line | 0.0 | 0.0 | Dartmouth Avenue | Southwestern terminus | |
| Lockport | 2.7 | 4.3 |  IL 7 (9th Street) | ||
| 6.7 | 10.8 |   I-355 Toll (Veterans Memorial Tollway) | |||
| Lemont | 9.2 | 14.8 |   CR 35 west (135th Street - Romeo Road) | ||
| Cook | 10.3 | 16.6 | CR B51 east (131st Street) | ||
| 11.2 | 18.0 | CR B50 west (127th Street) | |||
| Lemont Township | 12.1 | 19.5 | CR W18 south (Bell Road) | ||
| Sag Bridge | 12.3 | 19.8 | IL 83 south (111th Street) | Southern end of IL 83 overlap | |
| 13.1 | 21.1 |  IL 83 north (Kingery Highway) | Northern end of IL 83 overlap | ||
| Willow Springs | 17.7 | 28.5 | CR W79 south (Nolton Avenue) | ||
| Willow Springs–Justice line | 18.7 | 30.1 |      US 12 /US 20 /US 45 (La Grange Road) /I-294 Toll south (Tri-State Tollway) | I-294 southbound entrance only; to mainline toll barrier | |
| Justice | 19.2 | 30.9 | 79th Street | Northbound IL 171 exit; southbound IL 171 entrance | |
| Bedford Park–Bridgeview line | 21.1 | 34.0 |   CR W32 south (Roberts Road) | ||
| Summit | 22.8 | 36.7 | IL 171 north (1st Avenue) | Northern end of IL 171 overlap | |
| Summit–Chicago line | 23.2 | 37.3 |  IL 43 (SouthHarlem Avenue) | ||
| Chicago | 26.3 | 42.3 |  IL 50 (SouthCicero Avenue) | ||
| 29.3 | 47.2 | CR W94 (California Avenue) | |||
| 31.2 | 50.2 | CR W48 south (Ashland Avenue) | |||
| 33.6 | 54.1 | SouthState Street | Northeastern terminus | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
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Media related toArcher Avenue (Chicago) at Wikimedia Commons
