THE GREAT CHICAGO FIREOCTOBER 8-10, 1871

Bell-ringer

• 1) What do you already KNOW about the Great Chicago Fire?

• 2) What do you WANT TO KNOW about the Great Chicago Fire?

BEFORE THE FIRE…..

Chicago had grown steadily before the fire…

here is the city in 1820,1854, and 1857

By the 1860s, Chicago was a bustling city, known for numerous businesses and a busy port

By 1871, on the eve of the Great Chicago Fire, Chicago was also a sizable city with over

300,000 people

So…why was Chicago almost destined to have a huge fire?

• Buildings, bridges, sidewalks, and just about everything else was made out of wood

• Hay and tar roofs made the city even more flammable

• The summer and fall had been dry and hot, with very little rain

The day before the Great Chicago Fire, there had been another huge fire; it held the record for

Chicago’s biggest fire…..for ONE DAY

The firemen were very tired from fighting this fire, which would make them slower to respond when a

huge fire broke out again on October 8

On Sunday night, OCTOBER 8, 1871…..The GREAT CHICAGO FIRE broke out in Mrs. O’Leary’s barn

The barn was located on DeKoven Street

near Jefferson and Taylor

Did a cow kick over a lantern?

That’s what the legend says….but it might just have been a story created by newspaper men

On the day that the fire started, there was a watchman at the top of

the city’s Courthouse

Here is what he would have seen to the NORTH and EAST of the Courthouse

Here is what he would have seen to the SOUTH and WEST

When he saw a fire burning to the south and west, he set off the alarm, and firemen raced to fight the

fire….but he misjudged where the fire was, and they went to a place a mile away

DURING

THE FIRE...

At first the people did not panic because they saw so many fires; but when they realized how big it

was, THEY RAN FOR THEIR LIVES

Chicago burned!

Why did the fire spread so quickly?

• The watchman misjudged the location of the fire, and that wasted time

• Firemen were exhausted from fighting the fire that took place the night before

• There were 20 mile per hour winds

• All the dry wood everywhere gave the fire lots of things on which to feed

Fleeing across the river did not help, since the fire followed, destroying bridges and

almost everything else in its path

THE FIRE SPREAD QUICKLY• Mapping the Fire Inside the Burning City

    FireA. O'Leary barn 8:30B. Bateham's MillsC. Parmelee's StablesD. Gas Works Conley's PatchE. Court HouseF. Wright's StablesG. Polk StreetH. Northwestern ElevatorI. Galena Elevator

Time of Starting8:30 pm, October 810:00 pm, October 811:30 pm, October 812:00 midnight, October 8-912:20 am, October 91:30 am, October 92:30 am, October 92:30 am, October 97:00 am, October 97:00 am, October 9

It would eventually burn its way as far north as Fullerton Avenue,

destroying an area FOUR MILES LONG and ONE MILE WIDE

Mass panic began as people realized the fire was spreading

further and further

Not everyone panicked; some people just calmly

left the city

• This drawing was made by a boy named Justin showing how his family marched out of Chicago

• He’s the one leading the goat

300 people died, and over 90,000 (about 1/3 of the city’s population)

were left homeless

Some fled to Lincoln Park, which had recently been a cemetery, or jumped into the lake for cover

AFTER THE FIRE…..

The fire finally ran out of things to burn, and rain put out the remaining flames…but Chicago was a mess!

The Courthouse, from which the fire was first spotted, was in ruins

In most cases, only the shells of buildings remained

This was the view from the southwest corner of

Dearborn and Monroe

The Van Buren Street Bridge and Union Depot in ruins

BEFORE…AND AFTER

• POST OFFICE AND CUSTOM HOUSE

• BOOKSELLERS’ ROW, STATE STREET NEAR MADISON

BEFORE…AND AFTER

• PALMER HOUSE, STATE AND MONROE STREETS

• RUMSEY HOUSE, RUSH AND HURON

BEFORE…AND AFTER

• ST. JAMES EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT HURON AND CASS (NOW WABASH)

• PINE STREET (NOW MICHIGAN AVENUE) LOOKING TOWARD THE WATER TOWER

SEVERAL BUILDINGS DID SURVIVE THE FIRE….

ONE WAS THE O’LEARY BARN,

AND HERE ARE SOME

OTHERS…

THE OGDEN MANSION (ON WALTON BETWEEN DEARBORN AND CLARK) WAS SAVED BY PEOPLE

PUTTING WET CARPETS ON IT.

THE NEWBERRY LIBRARY STANDS THERE TODAY.

THE LIND BLOCK (Randolph and Market, now Wacker Dr.) survived

THE NIXON BUILDINGat the northeast corner of Monroe and LaSalle.

• After the disaster it was adorned with the inscription, "This fireproof building is the only one in the city that successfully stood the test of the Great Fire of October 9, 1871.“

• It was made partly of iron and brick, which might have helped save it.

THE WATER TOWER

• This is probably the most famous structure still standing today that survived the fire

The Bellinger House in the Lincoln Park neighborhood survived the fire

and is still standing today as well

COPINGAND

REBUILDING

General Sheridan was put in charge so that people would stay controlled;

soldiers patrolled the streets

LEAVE CHICAGO OR STAY?

• About 30,000 people left Chicago after the fire using free railroad passes like this one

• Most people chose to stay

• Area churches helped those who were homeless

• The mayor banned smoking until water service could be restored

• The price of bread was kept at 8 cents by law so that greedy people would not overcharge those in need for basic food supplies

The nation tried to help Chicago

• Why? Because other places had also experienced tragedy in their histories….AND

• More importantly, Chicago was a growing city with businesses such as meatpacking that impacted the whole country

People all over the country tried to help Chicago; this flier is from Cleveland,

Ohio,and the goods are from New York City

Queen Victoria of England gave us books to help found our

public library

Ladies in particular founded relief and aid societies, but much of the

distribution was based on merit

Some people in other parts of the country thought Chicago deserved the fire because of our vice and the North’s burning of the South in the

Civil War

BUT THE CITY WOULD NOT LET ANYTHING GET IN THE WAY OF

REBUILDING….

State and Madison—people started rebuilding businesses pretty quickly

• Damages from the fire were estimated at over $250 million• Despite this, people had hope for a good future, and over 3000

buildings were constructed in the year after the fire

Temporary buildings were put up on Michigan Avenue

The first store in the burnt district sold apples, grapes, cigars,

and cider.

This real estate agent seemed to embody the spirit of Chicago.

People even got married and preachers held church services in the midst of the ruins

The Palmer House was rebuilt, and Palmer dared people to come and

try to set it on fire

CHICAGO WAS ON ITS WAY AGAIN TO BECOMING A

WORLD-CLASS CITY

Chicago in 1898…bigger and better than before!

The world’s first skyscraper was built here because important architects came to help rebuild the city after the fire…this paved the way for the

city we know today.

Today, on the spot where Mrs. O’Leary’s barn stood, you will find the Chicago Fire

Academy and a sculpture commemorating the fire.

SOME PEOPLE COMPARE CHICAGO TO THE PHOENIX… A MYTHICAL BIRD THAT DIES IN A FIRE AND IS REBORN STRONGER THAN BEFORE.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Exit Slip

• 3) What have you LEARNED about the Great Chicago Fire?