What was the Great Chicago Fire?
From October 8 to October 10, 1871, a great fire swept across the city of Chicago, destroying much of the city and leaving more than 100,000 Chicagoans homeless. How did the fire start? And what were its consequences? Read below to find out!
By the mid-1800s, Chicago was on its way to becoming the premier city of the American Midwest. Located on the Great Lakes (and close to the Mississippi River), Chicago stood at the crossroads of trade and transportation. Trade could travel by boat and, later in the 19th century, by rail. Especially, Chicago served as a link between established industry on the east coast and growing opportunities and large farms out west. For several decades, Chicago was one of the fastest-growing cities in the world: it grew from a few hundred residents in the 1830s to 300,000 residents in 1870.
By the time of the Great Chicago Fire in 1871, then, a natural disaster had the potential to cause great destruction in Chicago—not only because of the number of people who lived and worked in the city but also because of the city’s importance to the commercial connections across the continental US.
By the early 1870s, there were some physical factors that made the city particularly vulnerable to a large fire. Because of Chicago’s rapid growth, many houses and buildings were made from wood, which was readily accessible and easy to build with. Even sidewalks and roads were also made out of wood. To top it off, a house roof was typically covered with tar, which was also highly flammable.
In addition to these general dangers, there were some specific weather conditions in October 1871 that made a fire particularly likely to thrive. The summer of 1871 had been particularly hot and dry. And on October 6, strong winds started to blow in from the south. These same conditions existed across the Great Lakes: Michigan and Wisconsin also faced the outbreak of large fires on October 6.
While it is clear that the conditions were ripe for the spread of a major fire, it remains unclear exactly how the Great Chicago Fire stared. City lore claims that a cow (owned by Irish immigrant Catherine O’Leary) knocked over a lantern in a barn on the south side of the city. While the fire did start near the O’Leary’s house, there is no other evidence to support that the O’Leary family (or their cow) were responsible. In fact, the O’Leary family adamantly denied that they were responsible. Likely, this story was fabricated and accepted on the basis of anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiment rife in Chicago (and the US) at the time, since the O’Leary family had emigrated from Catholic Ireland.
By the late evening of October 6, the fire was burning rapidly and continuing to grow at an alarming rate. However, officials hoped that the winds from the south would push the fire toward to Chicago River, where the fire would eventually run out fuel. While the winds did carry the fire toward the river, it was unsuccessful in stopping the fire’s progress. By the time it reached the river, the fire had grown so hot—and the the sparks were traveling so far—that the fire eventually jumped across the river. By the early morning hours, the fire had reached the heart of the city, destroying businesses and government buildings. Eventually, the fire also reached and quickly destroyed the municipal waterworks building, cutting off any means by which to fight the fire with water.
The fire continued to rage through October 7 and October 8. By October 9, it started to die out, having destroyed much of the densely populated areas of the city. Rains that day also helped cool the temperatures and smother the flames.
The city remained too hot to enter for several days. By the time that residents were able to return, they faced a grim vision. More than 2,000 acres of the city had burned, destroying property equaling about 1/3 of the city’s valuation. The fire had consume the homes of one in three residents.
Many positive developments came from the tragedy. Chicago improved building standards to ensure that future fires could not spread as easily. This new era of building set the stage for Chicago to become one of the world leaders in metal architecture, paving the way for a new era of city skyscrapers. The aftermath of the fire also saw the establishment of a trained fire department. Indeed, the Chicago Public Library formed because of the fire, thanks to a donation of books sent from the United Kingdom to the residents of Chicago.
Today, the Great Chicago Fire lives on in the city’s popular memory as a major historical moment. There are also numerous sites around the city that either serves a places of remembrance for the victims of the fire or as historical landmarks of sites that managed to survive the flames. The city’s Major League Soccer team, the Chicago Fire, is also named in honor of this historical event.
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