Great Chicago Fire
 |
Artist's rendering of the fire, by John R Chapin, originally printed in Harper's Weekly |
The
Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from
Oct. 8-10,
1871, killing hundreds and destroying several square miles in
Chicago,
Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest
U.S. disasters of the 19th Century, the rebuilding that began almost immediately spurred Chicago's development into one of the most populous and economically important American cities.
The fire started at about 9 p.m. on Sunday, October 8, in or around a small shed that bordered the alley behind 137
DeKoven Street.
The best-known story of the fire is that it was started by a cow kicking over a lantern in the barn owned by Patrick and
Catherine O'Leary at the address above. Catherine O'Leary was the perfect
scapegoat: she was a woman, immigrant, and
Catholic-â€"a combination which did not fare well in the political climate of the time in Chicago. This story was circulating in Chicago even before the flames had died out and was noted in the
Chicago Tribune's first post-fire issue. Michael Ahern, the reporter who created the cow story, admitted in 1893 that he had made up the story because he thought it would make colorful copy.
[The Great Chicago Fire by Robert Cromie, published by Rutledge Hill Press ISBN 1-55853-264-1 and ISBN 1-55853-265-X (pbk. edition)]More recently, amateur historian Richard Bales has come to believe it was actually started when
Daniel "Pegleg" Sullivan, who first reported the fire, ignited some hay in the barn while trying to steal some milk. However, evidence recently reported in the
Chicago Tribune by
Anthony DeBartolo suggests
Louis M. Cohn may have started the fire during a craps game. Cohn may also have admitted to starting the fire in a lost will, according to Alan Wykes in his 1964 book
The Complete Illustrated Guide to Gambling.
An alternative theory, first suggested in 1882, is that the Great Chicago Fire was caused by a meteor shower. At a 2004 conference of the Aerospace Corporation and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, engineer and physicist
Robert Wood suggested that the fire began when
Biela's Comet broke up over the Midwest and rained down below. That four large fires took place, all on the same day, all on the shores of
Lake Michigan (see
Related Events), suggests a common root cause. Eyewitnesses reported sighting spontaneous ignitions, lack of smoke, "balls of fire" falling from the sky, and blue flames. According to Wood, these accounts suggest that the fires were caused by the methane that is commonly found in comets.
Another theory is that the fire was started by boys smoking pipes in a haystack.
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Aftermath of the fire, corner of Dearborn and Monroe Streets, 1871 |
When the fire broke out, neighbors hurried to protect the O'Leary's house in front of the cowshed from the blaze; the house actually did survive with only minor damage. However, the city's fire department didn't receive the first alarm until 9:40 p.m., and strong winds were blowing from the southwest, toward the heart of the city. Soon the fire had spread to neighboring frame houses and sheds. Superheated winds drove flaming brands northeastward, and the fire crossed the south branch of the
Chicago River by midnight. Helping the fire spread was ample fuel in the closely packed wood buildings, ships lining the river, the city's elevated wood-plank sidewalks, and the commercial lumber and coal yards along the river. The size of the blaze generated extremely strong winds and heat, which ignited rooftops far ahead of the actual flames.
As it raged through the central business district the fire destroyed hotels, department stores, Chicago's City Hall, the opera house and theaters, churches and printing plants. The fire continued spreading northward, driving fleeing residents across bridges over the Chicago River. The blaze leapt over the river's north branch and continued burning through homes and mansions on the city's north side. Residents fled into
Lincoln Park and to the shores of
Lake Michigan, where thousands found refuge from the flames.
The fire finally burned out, aided by diminishing winds and a light drizzle that began falling late on Monday night. From its origin at the O'Leary property it had burned a path of near complete destruction for some 48 blocks to Fullerton Avenue on the north side.
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Map of Chicago from 1871. The shaded area was destroyed by the fire. |
Once the fire was extinguished, the smoldering remains were too hot for a survey of the damage to be completed for several days. Eventually it was determined that the fire destroyed an area about four miles (6 km) long and averaging 3/4 mile (1 km) wide, encompassing more than 2,000 acres (8 km²). This area included more than 73 miles (120 km) of roads, 120 miles (190 km) of sidewalk, 2,000 lampposts, 17,500 buildings, and $222 million in property, about a third of the city's valuation. Out of 300,000 inhabitants, 100,000 were left homeless. The fire was said by local newspapers to be so fierce that it surpassed the damage done by
Napoleon's siege of
Moscow in 1812. Remarkably, some buildings did survive the fire, such as the then-new
Chicago Water Tower, which remains today as an unofficial memorial to the fire's destructive power. It was one of only five public buildings spared by the flames within the disaster zone; another was
Holy Family Church, the
Roman Catholic congregation of the O'Leary family.
After the fire, 125 bodies were recovered. Final estimates of the fatalities ranged from 200-300, considered a small number for such a large fire. In later years, other disasters in the city would claim more lives: 571 died in the
Iroquois Theater fire in 1903; and, in 1915, 835 died in the sinking of the
Eastland excursion boat in the
Chicago River. Yet the Great Chicago Fire remains Chicago's most well-known disaster, for the magnitude of the destruction and the city's subsequent recovery and growth.
Land speculators, such as
Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard, and business owners quickly set about rebuilding the city. Donations of money, food, clothing and furnishings arrived quickly from across the nation. The first load of lumber for rebuilding was delivered the day the last burning building was extinguished. Only 22 years later, Chicago hosted more than 21 million visitors during the
World's Columbian Exposition.
In 1956, the remaining structures on the original O'Leary property were torn down for construction of the Chicago Fire Academy, a training facility for Chicago firefighters.
In that hot, dry and windy autumn, three other major fires occurred along the shores of
Lake Michigan at the same time as the Great Chicago Fire. Some 400 miles (600 km) to the north, a prairie fire driven by strong winds consumed the town of
Peshtigo, Wisconsin along with a dozen other villages, killing 1,200 to 2,500 people and charring approximately 1.5 million acres (6,000 km²). Though the
Peshtigo Fire remains the deadliest in American history, the remoteness of the region meant it was little noticed at the time. Across the lake to the east, the town of
Holland, Michigan and other nearby areas burned to the ground. Some 100 miles to the north of Holland the lumbering community of
Manistee, Michigan also suffered a tremendous fire.
Gary Larson's
The Far Side comic strip jokes that the fire may have been started by
secret agent cows.
*"People & Events: The Great Fire of 1871".
The Public Broadcasting System (PBS) Website. Retrieved Sep. 3, 2004.
*"History of the Great Fires in Chicago and the West". - Rev.
Edgar J. Goodspeed,
D.D., 677 pp.
Chicago and the Great Conflagration -
Elias Colbert and
Everett Chamberlin, 1871, 528 pp.
The Great Conflagration -
James W. Sheahan and
George P. Upton, 1871, 458 pp.
The Great Chicago Fire and the Myth of Mrs. O'Leary's Cow - Richard F. Bales, McFarland & Co., 2002
*"Who Caused the Great Chicago Fire? A Possible Deathbed Confession" - by Anthony DeBartolo,
Chicago Tribune,
October 8, 1997 and "Odds Improve That a Hot Game of Craps in Mrs. O'Leary's Barn Touched Off Chicago Fire" - by Anthony DeBartolo,
Chicago Tribune,
March 3, 1998 - [
1]
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Dwight L. Moody - 19th Century evangelist whose church was burnt down in the fire
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Horatio Spafford - Author of hymn "
It Is Well With My Soul" who lost almost everything he owned in the fire
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The Cause of the Great Chicago Fire*
The Great Chicago Fire*
Eyewitness account of the Manistee fire*
Song lyrics to "Great Chicago Fire" by Inspector Muffin
