Photograph: Panoramic view looking east along Randolph Street toward the shell of the Court House and City Hall. The nearest cross street is Franklin, while the street at the extreme right corner is Market (now Wacker). Reconstruction is just beginning: a contractor's shack is in the middle ground, and several larger temporary store structures are under construction. Special Collections & Preservation Division CCW 1.115.
At about 9 p.m. on Sunday, October 8, 1871, a blaze began at 137 DeKoven Street on Chicago's West Side. By midnight the fire had jumped the river's south branch and less than 2 hours later the business district was in flames. Shortly thereafter the fire raced northward across the main river.
During Monday the fire burned as far as Fullerton Avenue. Rainfall which started about midnight helped put out the last of the flames. By that time 300 Chicagoans were dead, 90,000 homeless, and the property loss was $200 million.
Additional Resources
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| Prior to 1850 |
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| 1850 to 1899 |
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| 1900 to 1949 |
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| 1950 to 2000 |
1950, May 25: Green Hornet Accident, Streetcar Collision with Gasoline Tanker
1955: Heat Wave
1958: Our Lady of Angels School Fire
1961, 1967: Tornados
1966-1977: Riots
1966: Homicide Epidemic Onset
1967, January 16: McCormick Place Fire
1967: Major Snow Storm
1968: Disturbances at the Democratic National Convention
1972, October 30: Illinois Central Gulf Commuter Train Crash
1972, December 8: Crash of United Flight 553 at Midway
1976, January 30: Wincrest Nursing Home Fire
1976: Death of Mayor Richard J. Daley
1977, February 4: El Crash
1979: Major Snowstorm
1979, May 25: American Airlines Flight 191
1981: AIDS Epidemic Onset
1987, November 25: Death Of Mayor Harold Washington
1992, April 13: Freight Tunnel Flood
1995: Heat Wave
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