Where Nobody Lives And Beer Isn’t Made
Ok, when you say Goose Island most people think beer. Actually, Goose Island is a 160 acre man made island in the middle of the Chicago River where nobody lives and no beer is made. Disappointing right? (to be fair, the beer is made just across the river)
The exact source of the name “Goose Island” is unclear but many old-time Chicagoans say the name comes from the Irish settlers who “migrated” here to escape the Irish potato famine and that these Irish who lived (actually they were supposedly squatters) on the island during the 1800’s raised geese and thus the name (phew, got that?)
The most widely accepted opinion is that the name originated from a smaller island located about a mile downstream close to where the north branch meets the south branch of the Chicago River. It’s said that this older island (which no longer exists) was a popular gathering place for large flocks of geese.
By the end of the 1800’s, the residents of Goose Island had fallen into a state of poverty and the area had become “a little dicey”. As manufacturing developed in the early 1900’s a rail line was built through the middle of the island and Goose Island became much more industrial. By 1980, there was only one residential home that remained on the island. In 1990, the then Mayor Richard Daley supported the designation of Goose Island as a Planned Manufacturing district (similar to Chicago’s Industrial Corridor) which has guarded the island from any residential development in order to try and preserve industrial jobs that help make Chicago “the city that works”.
So, if you’re looking for a condo on Goose Island you won’t find one but the ones that you’ll see here on our site are just across the river from Goose Island in Lincoln Park, Near North or River West. You can also view listings in Goose Island zip codes – 60610, 60622. While there are no CTA trains passing through the island, there are two CTA busses that service the area: the #70 Division Street bus and the #8 Halsted Street bus. Actually Division and Halsted streets are the only two roads that connect the island with the rest of the city and many Chicagoans are surprised to learn that they pass through the island all the time on these two busy streets.