The more than 1,000 carvings on the deteriorated limestone revetments at Morgan Shoal, between 45th and 50th Streets in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, are in imminent danger of being lost. This section of lakefront is in terrible condition, with many of the old rocks topsy turvy and falling into the lake. The condition of the revetments is such that they cannot be rehabilitated, but that does not mean the rocks and their carvings must be abandoned. The city is proceeding with a project to rebuild and expand the shoreline here, which makes it essential that the carvings be recognized as an important cultural resource and, to the extent possible, preserved in the course of the reconstruction. In other areas of the lakefront pieces of the old limestone revetments have been reused as part of the landscape.
The group of carvings behind La Rabida Hospital are also in imminent danger of being lost to flooding and storm damage. As at Morgan Shoal and Promontory Point, blocks hosting important carvings are falling into the lake. The La Rabida section of shore is under study for protection measures, so again, it’s important that the value of the carvings as a cultural resource be recognized and the carvings preserved to the extent possible.
The pages behind the links below were prepared to give government officials a sense of the carvings’ extent and value.