October 8, 2009

The Great Chicago Fire of 1871

Fire!  Destruction of Chicago!

On October 8, 1871 a fire that started in a barn on Chicago's west side grew until it had engulfed nearly 4 square miles of the city.
Chicago-fire1.jpg
The Chicago Tribune described the fire as "a conflagration which has no parallel in the annals of history, for the quantity of property destroyed, and the utter and almost irremediable ruin which it wrought." But, rebuilding projects created a boom for the city, paved the way for the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and helped create the Chicago of today.

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