Chicago River, IL

Again, another postcard I received from my godmother in the States.

On most days, one would see this river to be murky green in color, but once a year, the Chicago River is dyed the perfect shade of Irish green during St. Patrick's Day.  The river dyes the Illinois, which in turn dyes the Mississippi, continuing to the Gulf of Mexico, running upstream across the North Atlantic, and finally the sea of green gets to greet the Irishmen of the Emerald Isle in the Irish Sea.  This has been a tradition since 1962.  You can read more about the history on this website.

The river has played a central role in the history of Chicago 

During the 19th century, the Chicago River was crucial to the city's development as a major center of the lumber and meatpacking industries.  Cool, but of course, the dying the whole river green is cooler.