Sheridan Road

Sheridan Road is a major north–south street that leads from Diversey Parkway in Chicago, Illinois, north to the Illinois–Wisconsin state line and beyond to Racine. Throughout most of its run, it is the easternmost north–south through street, closest to Lake Michigan. From Chicago, it passes through Chicago's wealthy lakeside North Shore suburbs, and then Waukegan and Zion, until it reaches the state line in Winthrop Harbor. In Wisconsin, the road leads north through Pleasant Prairie and Kenosha, until it ends on the south side of Racine, in Mount Pleasant.

From North Chicago to the state line, Sheridan Road is signed as part of Illinois Route 137 (IL 137) in Illinois, and Wisconsin Highway 32 (WIS 32) through Kenosha and Racine in Wisconsin. Sheridan Road is known for its historic sites, lakefront parks, and gracious mansion homes in Evanston through Lake Bluff.

History

A suburban extension of Chicago's Lake Shore Drive to Waukegan was first promoted by the North Shore Improvement Association in the late 1880s. In February 1888, Fort Sheridan at Highwood was named in honor of General Philip Sheridan, who had fought in the American Civil War, coordinated firefighting and relief efforts during the Great Chicago Fire, and intervened to put down the Chicago railroad strike of 1877. Sheridan died the following August, and in February 1889 the new road, which was to run directly past the fort, was also named for him. Much of the route was laid out by 1893, and in 1894 it was proposed that the new road should be extended to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.