On the 8th of October, 1871, Catherine O'Leary was out milking her cow.
It was the dead of night, so she had an oil lantern next to her, overlooking the fact that the barn was a giant fire hazard and that cows can get twitchy when someone's pulling on their udders.
Well, wouldn't you?
The resultant fire destroyed 4 square miles of Downtown Chicago and killed hundreds of people, leaving thousands more homeless. A third of the city's property value was turned to rubble, and over 70 miles of roads burnt up beyond recognition.
So, what do you do with a chargrilled city? You rebuild, of course. Nineteenth-century Chicago found itself in prime position for all the new waves- on the northern end of the Mississippi, and the hub of most trade routes, the 'Second City' had a huge influx of funding from the federal government which was easy to divert into its rebuilding. Turned out this was desperately needed, as the population just kept growing.
Chicago was lucky enough to have a group of magnificently talented architects, so the Second City got itself a Second Chance, and ran with it. In the early twentieth century, when other cities were preparing for war or the arrival of the motorcar and wondering how the hell their cobbled streets and windy lanes would cope, Chicago essentially had a blank canvas on which to paint a perfect city. They also had tonnes and tonnes of building materials- all those razed buildings had to go somewhere. A lot of time and effort was put into creating an “uninterrupted lake front” and “beaches upon which waves will crash”
It was the dead of night, so she had an oil lantern next to her, overlooking the fact that the barn was a giant fire hazard and that cows can get twitchy when someone's pulling on their udders.
Well, wouldn't you?
The resultant fire destroyed 4 square miles of Downtown Chicago and killed hundreds of people, leaving thousands more homeless. A third of the city's property value was turned to rubble, and over 70 miles of roads burnt up beyond recognition.
So, what do you do with a chargrilled city? You rebuild, of course. Nineteenth-century Chicago found itself in prime position for all the new waves- on the northern end of the Mississippi, and the hub of most trade routes, the 'Second City' had a huge influx of funding from the federal government which was easy to divert into its rebuilding. Turned out this was desperately needed, as the population just kept growing.
Chicago was lucky enough to have a group of magnificently talented architects, so the Second City got itself a Second Chance, and ran with it. In the early twentieth century, when other cities were preparing for war or the arrival of the motorcar and wondering how the hell their cobbled streets and windy lanes would cope, Chicago essentially had a blank canvas on which to paint a perfect city. They also had tonnes and tonnes of building materials- all those razed buildings had to go somewhere. A lot of time and effort was put into creating an “uninterrupted lake front” and “beaches upon which waves will crash”
“These views of a broad expanse are helpful alike to mind and body. They beget calm thoughts and feelings and afford escape from the petty things of life.”
So the Chicagoans dumped their old houses, bakeries, breweries, factories and office buildings into the waters of Lake Michigan, waited thirty years for everything to settle, then built a system of parks and bike routes and beaches to offer peace of mind to the office workers of it's bustling hub.
In many ways, the Fire was the best thing to happen to the phoenix-city of Chicago.
In many ways, the Fire was the best thing to happen to the phoenix-city of Chicago.
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