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Fullerton

North

Chicago

Madison

12th (Roosevelt)

22nd (Cermak)

31st

39th (Pershing)

40th

Ave

(Pu

lask

i)

Kedz

i e

Wes

tern

Ash

land

Hal

sted

Stat

e

BusinessDistrict

47th

55th

63rd

Mason (47th)

Belmont

Irving Park

Lincoln

Clark

Elston

Milwaukee

Ogden

LumberDistrict

UnionStockYard

C H I C A G O L A K E

M I C H I G A N

LincolnPark

ChicagoR iver

Illinois & Michigan Canal

L A K E V I E W

H Y D E P A R K

Englewood

DESTROYED

BY FIRE

Fire Limits in Chicago in the 1870s

© 2004 The Newberry Library

City limits in 1871Built-up area in 1871Area burned in fire“Fire Limits”area where1872 ordinancerestricted buildingmaterials

O N E M I L E

Map 29b • Fire extent TO PRESS 25 Sep 03

Author: Michael P. Conzen

DESIGNER: Map 29b has beenmodified to go across thegutter so it can accompanymap 29a (dark Fire map)This shorter version of Map 29bsacrifices relatively little content,if you need the room for captionson this spread

Progress of the Chicago Fire of 1871

The Great Chicago Fire was not one fire, but a suc-

cession of nine separate fires started by flying brands

carried from earlier burning sites, which then melded

into one relentless inferno. It all started in the O’Leary

barn on a rear alley of DeKoven Street on the Near

West Side at 8:30 p.m. on October 8, 1871. Amid

firefighting difficulties and official confusion, the fire

spread north and eastward. Ninety minutes later a

burning brand, caught in the updraft, sailed over

and landed on Bateham’s Mills to the north, starting

a second fire. Brands from there started other fires

across the river near and in the business district, and

by 2:30 a.m. a flying brand started a fire on property

north of the river. Given the prevailing winds, the co-

alescing fires burned most of the western portion of

the city center and a swath of the North Side head-

ing north-northeast to the lakefront by 6:00 a.m.

the following day. By then it was unstoppable. Over

the next 22 hours the fire finished off the business

district, the lakefront harbor, and a large wedge of

the North Side as far as Fullerton, by which time rain

helped the fire burn itself out.

C3


1 0 0 0 F E E T

CentralBusinessDistrict

CentralStation

DearbornStation

LaSalle StStation

GrandCentralStation

UnionStation

NorthWesternStation

Railroads and Chicago’s Loop, circa 1930

US PostOffice

Penna RRFreightTerminal

Van Buren StStation

Randolph StStation

Map 24 • Railroads in the Central Area TO PRESS 17 Sep 03

© 2004 The Newberry LibraryRailroad Facilities Warehouses Other Buildings

Fullerton

North

Chicago

Madison

12th (Roosevelt)

22nd (Cermak)

31st

39th (Pershing)

40th

Ave

(Pu

lask

i)

Kedz

i e

Wes

tern

Ash

land

Hal

sted

Stat

e

BusinessDistrict

47th

55th

63rd

Mason (47th)

Belmont

Irving Park

Lincoln

Clark

Elston

Milwaukee

Ogden

LumberDistrict

UnionStockYard

C H I C A G O L A K E

M I C H I G A N

LincolnPark

ChicagoR iver

Illinois & Michigan Canal

L A K E V I E W

H Y D E P A R K

Englewood

DESTROYED

BY FIRE


© 2004 The Newberry Library

City limits in 1871Built-up area in 1871Area burned in fire“Fire Limits”area where1872 ordinancerestricted buildingmaterials

O N E M I L E

Map 29b • Fire extent TO PRESS 25 Sep 03


DESIGNER: Map 29b has beenmodified to go across thegutter so it can accompanymap 29a (dark Fire map)This shorter version of Map 29bsacrifices relatively little content,if you need the room for captionson this spread


The Chicago Fire of 1871 burned less than a quarter

of the built-up area of the city. It destroyed the busi-

ness district, residential blocks immediately to the

south and southwest, and a good portion of the

North Side east of the North Branch of the river, but

missed virtually the whole South Side and most of

the vast West Side. In 1872, “fire limits” were estab-

lished within which new construction was to be of

brick or stone. The limits were drawn, however, so

that much of the North Side could again be built up

with wooden structures, a concession to the mea-

ger resources of many residents. Notwithstanding

the new regulations, many replacement buildings

across the city continued to be built of wood, mak-

ing the fire limits a hollow act of city governance.

Railroads and Chicago’s Loop, circa 1930

As the nation’s single most important transportation hub, and as the key commercial pivot between the East and

the great West, Chicago developed an extraordinary concentration of railroad terminals and related warehous-

ing districts around its central business core. This map captures the pattern in 1930, when a great deal of urban

manufacturing shared space with warehouse quarters (purple) adjacent to the railroad stations, yards, and river-

front and lakeside docks and elevators (black). The combination of these facilities created a complete collar five

to eight blocks deep encircling the business district (dense brown), except on the eastern flank where Grant Park

(white) was laid out between the Illinois Central tracks and Chicago Harbor.

stat kedzi ve (pulaski chicago madison district business ... · the great chicago fire was not one...

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