“A few hundred feet off the shoreline of Kenwood and Hyde Park lives an underwater marvel few Chicagoans ever see: the remnants of a 400 million-year-old coral reef scattered with ancient fossils and the wreckage of the Silver Spray, a steamship that sank after striking the shallow bedrock in 1914.
“For free diver Jessica Christopher, the milelong stretch of underwater dolomite known as Morgan Shoal is a rare natural refuge along Chicago’s otherwise engineered lakefront. When the weather warms, Christopher can glide over fossilized coral and sponge formations while fish weave through the crevices of the shallow bedrock.
“A Logan Square resident and former competitive swimmer, Christopher first visited Hyde Park in 2012 to experience the shoal’s unusually crystal clear, sand-free waters. She returns to Morgan Shoal for the community of swimmers that gathers above it — often meeting atop the sunken ship’s boiler, which emerges during periods of low water levels.
“‘This is the only area left of our shore that’s raw and wild,’ she said. But this stretch of rugged lakefront likely won’t stay that way for much longer.
“The community will lose a place that is so special to us,’ said Sharla Paul, an open-water swimmer whose kids grew up playing at Pebble Beach. ‘We’re counting down the days.’
“Fans of Morgan Shoal say the secluded and intimate pebble beach deserves the same protection as the ‘extroverted’ Promontory Point that attracts more crowds.
“The Point juts out, pebble beach curves in,’ said Paul, who has lived in Hyde Park for 26 years. ‘I think it has that introverted feeling and gives the community a balance.’
“For Paul, the stakes are personal. The pebble beach is where she taught her kids to skip rocks and build cairns, and it is a prominent scene in most of her family photo albums.
“‘It’s my favorite place in the world,’ she said. ‘Until that changes, this is where my ashes are going to be scattered.’ (Freitag, Chicago Tribune, 3/22/26)
“Neighborhood residents and shoreline preservation advocates continued their campaign to preserve the character of a stretch of Kenwood shoreline last week, pressing their case directly to officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, who will soon decide whether the reconstruction project moves forward.
“It cannot be overstated that this plan will completely destroy an undeniably unique place,” said Jessica Christopher, an area resident and member of Advocates for Morgan Shoal.
“Christopher spoke during what is likely to be the final public meeting on the Morgan Shoal shoreline reconstruction project before federal officials decide whether to advance it.
“Morgan Shoal, a rocky, degraded stretch of shoreline spanning roughly 45th to 51st streets, has been eyed for redevelopment by city and federal officials for decades. Momentum picked up in February 2024, when the city unveiled a new draft design for the site.
“The project has faced scrutiny from some residents since the Public Building Commission announced in 2021 that the section of shoreline would be redesigned and rebuilt. Criticism intensified after the formation in 2024 of Advocates for Morgan Shoal, an informal conservation group that argues the shoreline should be altered as little as possible.
“Many echoed concerns raised at earlier public meetings in 2024 and 2025, arguing that the public engagement process has been flawed and that the proposed design would fundamentally alter the character of the shoreline.
“‘The public process around this plan so far has been a real problem,’ said Casey Breen, a lecturer and landscape designer.
“‘All we want is a seat at the table,’ she continued. ‘We want transparency. We want to be a part of the process in a way that you haven’t allowed before.’
“A key demand from Advocates for Morgan Shoal is the preservation and reuse of the limestone blocks that remain from the original step-stone revetment built along the shoreline about a century ago, similar to the structure at Promontory Point. The Army Corps plan calls for reusing some of the blocks, but advocates say officials have underestimated how many remain usable.
“I counted 2,758 limestone blocks, and your total comes to about 1,300,’ Advocates member Betsy Mensah told officials, describing her survey of the site. ‘I think you’re missing quite a few that could be used and could be added to create the kind of character that the beach has now.’
“Many of the blocks are carved with anonymous inscriptions that have accumulated over decades. The Army Corps plan would preserve some of them, but critics say the number is too small. Bill Swislow, co-author of ‘Lakefront Anonymous: Chicago’s Unknown Art Gallery,’ said the Morgan Shoal shoreline contains more than 1,000 carvings across more than 400 blocks. The Army Corps has proposed reusing 90 carved blocks.
“It will ruin a beach that resembles the Mediterranean,” Christopher said. “The shoreline holds the bricks used to pave Chicago’s early streets, along with countless other artifacts that were part of the refuse used to extend the land into the water a century ago. Today it is not refuse. It is history.”
“During the meeting, Debra Hammond, a neighborhood resident and treasurer of the Promontory Point Conservancy, read a letter from Advocates for Morgan Shoal to Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul urging his office to intervene and “enforce the rights” of the State Historic Preservation Office regarding the Morgan Shoal project.” (Monaghan, Hyde Park Herald, 3/10/26)