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Source Description
America Transformed: By 1870, Chicago's population approached 300,000, making it the nation's fifth largest city. This guide map, published just after the Great Chicago Fire, superimposes the burned area over the gridded street pattern. The fire started southwest of the city center and burned over 2,000 acres, noted by the shaded red area. A strong southwest wind, wooden structures, and summer drought fueled the flames that left approximately 100,000 people homeless. Though legend suggests that a cow caused the flames by knocking over a lantern, the real cause is unknown. In reaction to the mass destruction, city officials and urban planners lobbied for stricter building codes and better fire-fighting services.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
4m90f770p
label
Guide map of Chicago, October 11th, 1871
core
obj
dtoType
map
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
4m90f770p
contentType
map
stage
normalized
title
Guide map of Chicago, October 11th, 1871
description
America Transformed: By 1870, Chicago's population approached 300,000, making it the nation's fifth largest city. This guide map, published just after the Great Chicago Fire, superimposes the burned area over the gridded street pattern. The fire started southwest of the city center and burned over 2,000 acres, noted by the shaded red area. A strong southwest wind, wooden structures, and summer drought fueled the flames that left approximately 100,000 people homeless. Though legend suggests that a cow caused the flames by knocking over a lantern, the real cause is unknown. In reaction to the mass destruction, city officials and urban planners lobbied for stricter building codes and better fire-fighting services.
date
["[1871]"]
year
1871
rights
No known copyright restrictions.
rightsUri
No known restrictions on use.
reuseAllowed
no restrictions
language
English
identifierLocal
06_01_011323
creators
Clay, Cosack & Co
institution
Boston Public Library
collections
Urban Maps
Norman B. Leventhal Map & Education Center Collection
subjects
Railroads--Illinois--Chicago--Maps
Great Fire, Chicago, Ill., 1871--Maps
Chicago (Ill.)--Maps
subjectsGeographic
Chicago
Cook (county)
Illinois
North and Central America
United States
genreBasic
Maps
typeOfResource
Cartographic
country
United States
state
Illinois
county
Cook
city
Chicago
thumbnailUrl
largeImageUrl
pageCount
1
source
import
pubPlace
Buffalo, N.Y
publisher
Clay, Cosack & Co.
Source extras
institutionArkId
sf268508b
collectionArkId
9s1621613
schema:latitude
41.85
schema:longitude
-87.65
extent
1 map : col. ; 47 x 28 cm.
notes
Red overprint shows extent of 1871 fire, railroads and hotels.
Oriented with north to the upper right.
Includes key to hotels and advertisements for railroads.
hasTranscription
no
dcId
4m90f770p
type
map
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
8b6e76ce22c36709