Article: Our continental divide // Chicago's ridge tough to see

There's the continental divide in the Rocky Mountains, soaring as high as 14,000 feet. Then there's the continental divide in Chicago, which basically is invisible to the naked eye.

How many times have you crossed the stretch of land between Central and Harlem avenues? That's how many times you've crossed Chicago's divide, which rises only 50 to 110 feet above the level of Lake Michigan.

Some places, you can see the divide if you know what to look for. Stand at Narragansett Avenue in the parking lot of the Dunning Square shopping mall and look west along Irving Park Road. You'll see a slight rise of ground, which levels out two blocks west at Natchez. That's the divide. "It's certainly ...

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