Summit

History

The area around Summit has been hunted and traveled through for 12,000 years but only continuously occupied since 900 CE. When Europeans first arrived the area was inhabited or used by the Meskwaki, Illini, Miami, Sauk, and Chippewa-Ottawa-Potawatomi tribes. In 1673, the Marquette-Joliet expedition arrived at the portage north of the city and went on to the location of Chicago. At that time the importance of a portage was noted. A local trading network developed from that time until the Native Americans were removed beginning in 1816. Surveyed in 1821, land was for sale by the Illinois and Michigan Canal Commission nine years later. There may have been a tavern at "Summit Ford" in 1832, but by 1835, there was a sub-divided settlement with a tavern, blacksmith shop, and stagecoach stop. "Summit Corners" was where westbound Archer Ave. turned south and Lyons-Summit Rd. (now approximately Lawndale Ave.) went west. Chicago politician "Long John" Wentworth bought much of the surrounding area and used it for farming. Between 1836 and 1848, the Illinois and Michigan Canal was built through the subdivision. Most of the canal workers were Irish laborers and many were able to buy property with their canal script pay. In 1850, gravel and clay pits were opened in the area for local use. After 1865, limestone quarries north of the canal provided jobs into the 1920s, when they were closed, often used as garbage dumps, then covered over. Today's Hanover Park is a filled gravel and clay pit. In 1856, the Joliet and Chicago Railroad (Chicago and Alton Railroad in 1862) built a line along the south bank of the canal. Today, this is Metra's Heritage Corridor commuter line. In 1890, Summit was incorporated as a city. When John Wentworth, and his political influence, died two years…

Geography

According to the 2010 census, Summit has a total area of , of which (or 93.93%) is land and (or 6.07%) is water. Most of Summit is in the floodplain of the Des Plaines River.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Lyons Twp High Sch
  High · La Grange · 3,842 students · 15:1 ratio
• J Sterling Morton West High Sch
  High · Berwyn · 3,533 students · 17.2:1 ratio
• J Sterling Morton East High Sch
  High · Cicero · 3,445 students · 20.4:1 ratio
• Oak Park & River Forest High Sch
  High · Oak Park · 3,304 students · 14.1:1 ratio
• Curie Metropolitan High School
  High · Chicago · 3,178 students · 16.5:1 ratio
• Carl Sandburg High School
  High · Orland Park · 2,894 students · 16.1:1 ratio
• Amos Alonzo Stagg High School
  High · Palos Hills · 2,538 students · 14.4:1 ratio
• Young Magnet High School
  High · Chicago · 2,148 students · 16.9:1 ratio