The Great Chicago Fire

The Great Chicago Fire — page 1 — 1 CHICAGO BEFORE THE FIRE Today Chicago Illinois is a city known for its gleaming skyscrapers But the city has a dark past Those tall buildings might never have been built if not for a terrible disaster The 1871 Great Chicago Fire was one of the worst city fires in American history Chicago’s roots can be traced to 1803 That year the US Army built Fort Dearborn on the south bank of the Chicago River American Indians had already lived in the area for hundreds of years Some of them had conflicts with the newly arriving settlers By 1832 the army had driven most of the American Indians out American Indians were the first people to live in the area that became Chicago 4

The Great Chicago Fire — page 2 — But some families and individuals stayed behind They lived near and among the new settlers Chicago became a town in 1833 The population grew In 1837 it became a city At that time the main branch of the Chicago River flowed east It drained into Lake Michigan The north and south branches flowed into the main branch The city grew along the branches of the river Buildings sprang up on the shores of Lake Michigan The branching river divided Chicago into three divisions the North South and West divisions Fort Dearborn shown here in an 1856 illustration was one of the first structures that settlers built in the Chicago area 5

The Great Chicago Fire — page 3 — CHICAGO IN 1868 SOUTH BRANCH NORTH BRANCH MAIN BRANCH OF CHICAGO RIVER LAKE MICHIGAN Chicago was located between the busy East Coast and the expanding Far West of the United States The city had access to rivers lakes and railroads to transport goods Railroads brought grain to Chicago’s South Side It became the world’s largest grain port By 1871 more than twelve million bushels of wheat passed through Chicago each year The expanding railroads also brought livestock to Chicago’s meat processing plants More than three million livestock including cows pigs and sheep were processed there in 1871 Chicago became known as the Hog Butcher to the World Trains carried logs into Chicago from western forests The city’s many lumber mills stacked logs and finished wood products into large piles along both shores of the Chicago River’s south branch Chicago was also a manufacturing center It had more than 1,100 factories in 1871 It was home to the largest farm equipment manufacturing company in the United States the McCormick Reaper Works McCormick Reaper Works moved its business from rural Virginia to Chicago in 1847 6

The Great Chicago Fire — page 4 — Boats docked at the piers on Lake Michigan They carried lumber grain meat and other goods to the East Coast Those products were also carried through canals and rivers to the Mississippi River From there they traveled on to the middle and southern regions of the country Some of those products were shipped across the seas to other countries Boats brought goods from the East Coast back to Chicago Some of those goods were sold in Chicago Others were moved by trains and boats farther west and south 7

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