## Facts

- Illinois authorized Illinois Central Railroad, by charter and local ordinance, to build and operate a lakefront roadway and related harbor-protection works along Chicago’s shoreline.
- In 1869, Illinois enacted the “Lake Front Act,” purporting to grant the railroad a right of way plus fee title to a large area of submerged lands in Lake Michigan adjacent to Chicago, with rights to fill and construct wharves, piers, and other structures.
- In 1873, Illinois passed legislation revoking and annulling the 1869 conveyance and reasserting state control over the submerged lands.
- In 1883, Illinois (through its attorney general) filed an equity action against the railroad and the City of Chicago concerning title and control of the harbor and lakefront lands; the case was removed to federal court.
- The lower court entered a decree allocating interests among the parties; Illinois, the railroad, and the City appealed, producing consolidated appeals in the Supreme Court.

## Issues

1. Whether a state legislature may grant a private corporation fee title to a substantial portion of submerged lands in a navigable harbor, allowing private control inconsistent with public uses of navigation, commerce, and fishing.
2. Whether the state may revoke such a grant by subsequent legislation restoring public control.
3. Whether the railroad’s construction and reclamation along the lakefront conferred fee title or broad riparian rights beyond those necessary for authorized railroad purposes.

## Decision

- The Court held that Illinois holds title to submerged lands under navigable waters (including the Great Lakes) in trust for the public, subject to federal authority over navigation.
- The Court invalidated the 1869 statute’s sweeping grant as beyond legislative power because it effectively transferred control of an entire harbor and impaired the public trust.
- The Court upheld the 1873 repeal as a valid restoration of the state’s trust responsibilities and public rights.
- The Court recognized that limited grants or authorizations for structures and improvements are permissible when they do not substantially impair public interests in the waters.
- The Court declined to treat the railroad’s existing authorized lakefront roadway and protection works as unlawful encroachments requiring removal, but limited the railroad’s interests to the purposes specified by law and authorization.

## Legal Principles

- A state’s title to the beds of navigable waters is held in trust for public uses, principally navigation, commerce, and fishing.
- The public trust doctrine restricts legislative power to alienate submerged lands: the state may not abdicate general control over a harbor or convey a core public resource to private ownership and exclusion.
- The state may convey or authorize limited interests in submerged lands for improvements that aid or are consistent with public use and do not substantially impair public rights.
- Reclamation or construction authorized for specific public-related purposes does not, by itself, confer absolute fee title or a general right to dispose of the reclaimed area for unrelated private uses.

## Conclusion

The Court treated the bed of Chicago Harbor as public-trust property and held that Illinois could not permanently transfer control of that harbor to a private railroad through a broad fee grant; the state could revoke the attempted transfer while leaving intact limited, lawfully authorized railroad structures consistent with public use of the navigable waters.


Illinois Cent. R.R. Co. v. Illinois, 146 U.S. 387 (1892)