corneilus_wright

The District of Michigan

In 1886, George Streeter, a circus proprietor and all-around hustler, ran a small watercraft aground on an offshore sandbar on the Near North Side. He claimed he was on his way to run guns to various Latin American revolutions, but once beached decided to stay.

Over the years, sediment filled in the gap between Streeter's boat and the shoreline, and he claimed the new land as his own. Christening it the District of Michigan, he pronounced himself free of local authority and owing allegiance only to the federal government.

The self-styled Captain Streeter spent decades trying to sell gullible Chicagoans real estate in the "deestrict," as he pronounced it. The city's social elite who lived in the nearby Gold Coast neighborhood weren't amused -- especially because Streeter also sold beer and whiskey, cleaning up on Sundays when taverns in Chicago were closed.

When the police tried to dislodge the grandiose squatter in 1899, he organized a phalanx of hobos to meet the constables' charge. His army deserted, but Streeter held on until he went to prison for killing an intruder who stumbled into his realm.

After a short sentence, Streeter returned, but the District of Michigan's days were numbered. Mayor "Big Bill" Thompson closed Streeter's operation, effectively annexing the district to Chicago. The captain is memorialized by the name he lent to a North Side neighborhood.