The first non-native settler in the area was David Perriam who , in 1837 , claimed land north of the horseshoe bend in the Calumet River in an area referred to as Wildwood . This land was later acquired by Colonel James H. Bowen who was instrumental in construction of the Cal-Sag canal connecting the Calumet River to the Illinois River . After he lost his home in the Chicago Fire , Bowen moved to Wildwood and made this a palatial summer home where Chicago 's elite gathered in the 1870s . Another early resident , George Dolton , settled near the Calumet River by the Chicago-Thornton Road ( today 's Indiana Avenue ) . He operated a chain ferry across the river . Levi Osterhoudt operated a tavern/road house at 133rd and Thornton Road from 1840 and the area became known as the Riverdale Crossing . In 1842 , Dolton and Osterhoudt replaced the ferry with a toll bridge and called it the " Dolton Bridge
Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Riverdale, Chicago