Urban Dynamics: Chicago/Milwaukee Historical Information for the Chicago Metropolitan Area
Settlement History
Significant Events
Transportation History
Economic History
Human Health History
Physiographic Setting
Settlement History First Europeans
Father Jacques Marquette, French-born missionary of the Jesuit order, and Louis Jolliet, Canadian explorer and mapmaker, were the first Europeans to view the land on which the City of Chicago was to stand. Returning with five other Europeans from exploration of the Mississippi River, Marquette and Jolliet struck out alone and found a large Indian village near the present city of Ottawa. Guided by friendly Indians in the Fall of 1673, the two men first traversed the region that is now Chicago. The Chicago area was traveled by traders and explorers for some years after 1673. Late in the century two Indian villages were settled at Chicago and in 1696 Father Francois Pinet, a Jesuit missionary, founded the Mission of the Guardian Angel. The mission was abandoned in 1700 when missionary efforts proved fruitless. Little is known about the Chicago area from 1700 until about 1779.
First Settlement
Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, an African American from Santo Domingo, built the first permanent settlement at the mouth of the Chicago river just east of the present Michigan Avenue Bridge on the north bank.
U.S. Settlement
In the summer of 1795, Indian tribes gathered at Fort Greenville in eastern Ohio to make peace with General Anthony Wayne, often called "Mad Anthony". Wayne had defeated the Indians at the Battle of Fallen Timbers on August 20, 1794, and the ensuing treaty, concluded August 10, 1795, opened most of the present State of Ohio for settlement and named certain tracts in the Indian country to the westward to be used by the United States for forts and portages. One of these was described as "one piece of land six miles square, at the mouth of the Chicago River, emptying into the southwest end of Lake Michigan."
By this treaty between the federal government and Indians, a tract at the mouth of the Chicago River was ceded to the United States. This was the site of the future city of Chicago. Milo M. Quaife in Checagou: From Indian Wigwam to Modern City, writes: "From every point of view, this is the most momentous real estate transaction in the history of Chicago. It embraced an area which today the fabled wealth of the Indies would scarcely suffice to purchase, and it directly prepared the way for the subsequent founding of Fort Dearborn. Although the tract was never formally surveyed, its approximate boundaries are easily indicated - from Fullerton Avenue on the north to Thirty-first Street on the south, and from the lake westward to Forty-eighth Avenue (Cicero Avenue); such were the dimensions of Mad Anthony's purchase."
It was not until 1803 that the War Department ordered the construction of a fort at the mouth of the river. Troops arrived in the area on August 17 and began building shelters and a stockade. A year later, Fort Dearborn, named in honor of the Secretary of War, was completed.
For some years the garrison was peaceful and traders flourished. However, the outbreak of the War of 1812 with Great Britain moved the government to order the evacuation of the fort. The threatening attitude of the Indians led the entire population of the settlement to follow the garrison. After leaving the fort, the evacuees were attacked by Indians and many of the party were massacred and the fort was destroyed. In 1816 the fort was rebuilt and was thereafter occupied by United States troops for twenty-one years. In 1837 it was abandoned but the fort stood until 1856. Chicago was under the jurisdiction of Indiana Territory and Illinois Territory from 1801 to 1818. In 1818, Illinois was admitted to statehood, and Chicago was placed successively under the counties of Crawford, Clark, Pike, Fulton, Putnam attached to Peoria, and in 1831, Cook County
Incorporation of Town
In 1829 the State Legislature appointed a commission to dig a canal connecting Chicago with the Mississippi River by way of the DesPlaines and Illinois rivers and to lay out towns, to sell lots, and to apply the proceeds to the construction of the canal. The canal commissioners employed James Thompson, a civil engineer, to lay out the original town. On August 4, 1830, Thompson filed his survey and plat of the town of Chicago in Section 9, Township 39, Range 14, and thus Chicago received its first legal geographic location although the town was not incorporated until three years later. On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was incorporated with a population of 350. Incorporation was enabled by an act of the legislature, passed February 12, 1831, which provided that any community of over 150 inhabitants was authorized to incorporate as a town, with limits not to exceed one square mile in extent. The first boundaries of the new town were Kinzie, Desplaines, Madison, and State streets, which included an area of about three-eighths of a square mile.
Incorporation of City
By 1836 the Indians had been moved to reservations, many immigrants were arriving, and real estate was becoming more valuable. With the growing population it was evident that a new and more liberal charter was needed. In November of 1836 a committee was formed to apply to the state legislature for a city charter, and adopt a draft to accompany the application. A charter was prepared by this committee and submitted to the people for approval at a mass meeting at the Saloon Building on Monday, January 23, 1837. After slight alterations, the charter was approved and sent to the legislature. There, after certain amendments, it was enacted into law on March 4, 1837. Thus, on this date, Chicago became a city with a population of 4,170. An election was held on the second of May, 1837, to choose the officers provided for in the charter. At this election William B. Ogden was chosen the first Mayor of Chicago; Isaac N. Arnold, clerk; and Hiram Pearsons, treasurer.
Significant Events Street Grading
Structures in early Chicago were built directly upon the swampy ground a few feet above the lake level. Neither cellars nor sewers were possible. Vehicles were constantly mired in the muddy and unhealthful streets.
In 1852 a Drainage Commission was incorporated by the legislature. The city council in 1855 and 1856 adopted resolutions ordering that the grades throughout the city be raised to a height which would insure proper drainage. The new grade ordered the street levels and buildings lifted bodily to heights varying from four feet to seven feet above the low water level of the river as adopted by canal trustees in 1847. For street grading, mud and sand from the river bed, as well as any other materials that could be had, were used and the streets began to rise above the level of the country like levees along a river.
George M. Pullman, who had solved similar problems along the Erie Canal, engineered much of the lifting of early Chicago buildings. Buildings were jacked up and a foundation built under them without interrupting the occupancy of the building. By 1858 the city had succeeded in raising itself out of the mud. Early paving on the newly raised streets consisted first of planking; later macadam, wooden blocks, and paving stones were used.
Civil War
During the Civil War, Camp Douglas was opened in Chicago in 1861 for recruits. It was located on what was then open prairie, west of Cottage Grove Avenue, between Thirty-first and Thirty-third streets. Douglas Square, the Douglas monument, and the grave of Stephen A. Douglas are a little south of the site where the camp stood.
Stock Yards
Tavern owners usually provided pastures and care for herds of cattle awaiting sale during Chicago's early days. With the advent of railroads, stock yards were set up and eventually there were a number of yards scattered over the city. Construction for a consolidated Union Stock Yard began in June, 1865, and the Union Stock Yard opened Christmas Day, 1865. The stockyard grew to occupy a square mile of land from 39th to 47th and from Halsted to Ashland.
The stockyard saw its peak year in 1924 and then a gradual decline started caused by decentralization into regional markets and packing operations. The Chicago Union Stock Yard went out of business at midnight Friday, July 30, 1971. Today the site is occupied by a flourishing industrial park
Illinois and Michigan Canal
In 1822, by a grant from Congress, Illinois acquired the right of way across about one hundred miles of public lands from the head of Lake Michigan to LaSalle for canal purposes. In 1827 Congress donated to the state a quantity of land "equal to one-half of five sections in width (about ninety feet), on each side of the canal, reserving each alternate section to the United States from one end of the canal to the other." The state legislature passed the canal bill in 1823. On July 4, 1836, ground was broken at Lockport and at Bridgeport and construction was finished in April, 1848, at an entire expense of $6,170,226. The city council of Chicago donated $2,500,000 in 1865 to deepen the canal to increase the current and dispose of city sewage. Deepening was completed in 1871 and after the great fire of that same year the state legislature refunded the money to the city.
Water Supplies
Lake Michigan was an excellent source of drinking water. Early Chicagoans had Lake Michigan water delivered to them by private water cart. In 1840, when Chicago's population had increased to 4,500, the Chicago Hydraulic Company, a private organization, built the first pumping station and reservoir at the corner of Lake Street and Michigan Avenue and drew water from 150 feet out into the lake. Twelve years later a three-man board of water commissioners was created and the city took over the water service. A pumping plant was built on the lake shore at Chicago Avenue and water was fed into three reservoirs located around the Loop area.
It had already been established that purer water could be obtained if the intake was extended farther out into Lake Michigan, and an effort was made to place the intake crib 600 feet off shore. Rough water and inadequate technology made the project unsuccessful, and the intake had to be placed closer to the shore. The idea for a water tunnel under the lake was first conceived.
By the 1860s sanitary problems were severe enough that in 1867 engineers built a two-mile long tunnel to draw cleaner water for drinking. It was a revolutionary feat of engineering and brought international fame to its designer, Ellis S. Chesbrough. The water tunnel was two miles long and was dug through clay 60 feet under lake level and was lined to a finished diameter of five feet with two shells of brick. An intake crib built of timber (the original two-mile crib) was located two miles off shore at the lake end of the tunnel, and the shore end was connected to a new pumping station completed in 1869. This station is the existing Chicago Avenue pumping station. This new water system marked the real beginning to today's water works, employing cribs, tunnels, pumping plants, and, more recently, filtration and purification plants.
The Jame W. Jardine Water Purification Plant, designed to chemically treat and filter more than a million gallons of water per minute, went into full operation in late 1964. The plant furnishes water to over 2.8 million people in the area of Chicago north of Pershing Road and certain adjacent suburban communities. Two huge tunnel systems carry water from the plant to seven pumping stations in the Central and North water districts. Chicago's great Jardine Water Purification Plant, by far the largest in the world, is located on the Lake front just north of Navy Pier.
The South Water Purification Plant located at 79th and Lake Michigan serves the South Water District--over 1.8 million people. This plant went into service in 1947 and was later expanded to one-half the size of Jardine Water Purification Plant. The Jardine Plant is an integral part of Chicago's vast water system which is valued at over a billion dollars. The system serves a total population of more than 41 1/2 million people in an area of some 425 square miles, including Chicago and over 70 suburbs. The total plant and facilities of the system include 3 water intake cribs located about 2 miles off shore in Lake Michigan, the 2 largest water treatment (filtration) plants in the world, 11 strategically located pumping stations, and over 4,100 miles of water mains ranging in size from 4 to 60 inches in diameter.
Sanitation System
The sewerage system of early Chicago was primitive, with gutters serving as drains in many streets. Improvements were made in the sewerage system using underground pipes, but they discharged either directly into Lake Michigan or into the river which flowed into the lake. The water cribs were being pushed farther out into the lake to escape the wastes, but the effort was not successful. People were plagued by typhoid fever, cholera and dysentery.
In 1854, a cholera epidemic took the lives of 5 1/2 per cent of the population. Deaths from typhoid fever between 1860 and 1900 averaged 65 per 100,000 population a year. The worst year was 1891, when the typhoid death rate was 174 per 100,000 persons. Disease resulting from water polluted by human waste brought about a state of emergency.
By 1887, sanitary problems had returned, spawning yet another major engineering feat: reversal in the flow of the Chicago River. To this day, the river flows backwards, drawing water from Lake Michigan and sending it to the Gulf of Mexico. Rudolph Hering, chief engineer of the drainage and water supply commission, noted that the Great Lakes drainage system was separated from the Mississippi River drainage system by a summit or ridge approximately 8 feet high located some 12 miles west of the lake shore. A plan was evolved to cut through that ridge with a canal from the southerly tip of the south branch of the Chicago River and carry the wastes away from the lake and down to the Mississippi River through the Des Plaines and Illinois rivers. The Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago was created in 1889 under a law passed by the state legislature to effect this plan.
To reverse the flow of the Chicago River, a 28-mile canal was built from the south branch of the river through the low summit and down to Lockport. It was completed in 1900. The flow in this canal, commonly known as the Sanitary and Ship Canal or main channel, is controlled by locks at the mouth of the Chicago River and at Lockport. Thus, Chicago had built the first of its own rivers to dispose of waste waters.
In 1910 another small artificial river was completed by building a dam, lock, and pumping plant at Wilmette and by digging the North Shore channel, connecting Lake Michigan with the north branch of the Chicago River. The wastes from the north suburban communities of Evanston, Wilmette, Winnetka, and others were diverted away from the lake and drained through the newly created main canal. This artificial channel is 8 miles long.
In 1922, the third of Chicago's artificial rivers was created. This river, the Cal-Sag channel, extends 16 miles westward from the Little Calumet River at Blue Island to a junction with the main canal. Here again, the flow of a natural river was diverted away from Lake Michigan and into the main drainage system flowing to the west. Today the entire waterway system consists of 71 miles of canals, channels, and rivers.
The Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago, when created in 1889, covered 185 square miles of Chicago and some western suburbs. The district now covers 858 square miles including nearly all of Cook County. The district presently serves Chicago, 114 other cities and villages, and 20 smaller local sanitary districts. At the time the sanitary district was formed the science of sewage treatment was practically unknown. However, research had begun and in 1930 the court ordered construction of sewage treatment plants in order to cut down on water diversion from Lake Michigan. The sanitary district has since built three sewage treatment plants. In 1955, the American Society of Civil Engineers selected the Metropolitan Sanitary District of Greater Chicago as one of the seven engineering wonders of the United States.
Urban Planning
In 1909, the newly-formed Chicago Plan Commission published Daniel Burnham's comprehensive plan. The city's unobstructed lakefront, its citywide system of parks and its green belt of forest preserves all were part of this unique plan, the first ever presented to an American city .
One of the important features of the Burnham Plan of Chicago developed in 1907 was the straightening of the south branch of the Chicago River between Polk and 18th streets. Under discussion for many years the idea was officially recognized in the Union Station Ordinance of 1914 which made some preliminary provisions as to the location of the new channel. The project involved removing the bend from the river and digging a new channel about 850 feet farther west of Clark Street. For years the normal expansion of the central business district to the south had been prevented by the barrier of the river bend and of the railroads that had blocked its connections with the Loop. The resulting improvement enabled the railroads to construct terminals more suitable to their needs and opened new through streets from the Loop, thus greatly increasing the value of the immediately adjacent property.
The actual construction was started September 20, 1928. The work ended in December, 1930, when the filling of the old river channel was completed. Funds for construction were provided by the City of Chicago and the various railroad companies involved. The total cost of the project was approximately $10,200,000, and the cost to the City of Chicago was about $3,322,000.
Economic History The city's central location and easy accessibility were key factors in its growth and development. Chicago's prosperity may be attributed to its fortunate geographical position on the divide of the Mississippi and St. Lawrence River Systems, and its position as America's transportation center. Lake Michigan and the Chicago River are major reasons for Chicago's existence.
In early years, Chicago's economy was fueled mostly by real estate speculation. In the 1830 to 1837 period town lots were sold at ever increasing prices--sometimes doubling in a day. Financing was provided by: Easterners eager to speculate in Western Lands, banknotes of doubtful value issued by distant banks, and a variety of public and private debt loosely secured by Chicago real estate.
In 1837 a nation-wide financial panic resulted in a dramatic bust of Chicago real estate values. Easterners stopped speculating, attempts to redeem the notes of the distant banks proved that many of the banknotes were indeed valueless, Chicago real estate became impossible to sell and the debt secured by it worthless. Since real estate speculation was Chicago's only real export, the economy went into a nose dive for the next four years.
By 1841, the surrounding agricultural land was starting to produce a grain and livestock surplus which flowed through Chicago, but the State of Illinois went bankrupt. The State's bankruptcy was based on its issuance of bonds for Chicago's yet-to-be-completed Illinois and Michigan Canal. Eventually the canal was completed and Chicago's economy and population again boomed.
By 1857 Chicago's economy was much more diversified than in 1837, but another national financial panic caused the same cycle: a withdrawal of Eastern speculators, a fall in real estate values, and a devaluation of the miscellaneous currency and debt circulating as money. Many businesses went bankrupt and few banks survived. Financial panics and crises continued to be a feature of Chicago life causing widespread unemployment and much human misery.
In 1893, Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exposition, attracting over 27 million visitors during its six-month run.
In 1933, Chicago hosted a World's Fair, dubbed A Century of Progress, to show the technological achievements of civilization since the city was incorporated. Attracting 39 million visitors in a two-year period.
With the completion of the St. Lawrence seaway, Chicago became the world's busiest inland seaport.
Transportation History Railroads
The first railroad constructed out of Chicago, the Galena and Chicago Union, was chartered January 16, 1836, to connect Chicago with the lead mines at Galena. "The Pioneer," the first locomotive on the road, arrived at Chicago on October 10, 1848, nearly thirteen years after the charter was granted. In 1850 the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad was completed as far as Elgin. The railroad and the Illinois and Michigan canal were vital in the development of Chicago and the population of the city tripled in the six years after the opening of the canal in 1848. Eventually other railroads were built and Chicago became the largest railroad center in the world.
Airports
Chicago's first airport, the Chicago Municipal Airport, was completed late in 1927 and early in December of that year it was being used by all of the carriers engaged in air traffic to and from Chicago. Up to that time the carriers had made the aviation field at Maywood their Chicago port. The original municipal field was 320 acres in size. It was bounded by South Cicero and South Central avenues and West 59th and West 63rd streets. On December 12, 1949, the Chicago Municipal Airport was renamed Chicago Midway Airport in keeping with Chicago's geographical position. From 1945 to 1958, Midway airport was the world's busiest air terminal but it eventually was virtually abandoned when the air lines switched their operations to the bigger O'Hare field with the advent of the large jetliners. O'Hare International Airport now holds title as the world's busiest, with a new International Terminal which opened in June, 1993. In 1967 a major rebuilding and refurbishing job was started on Midway and early in 1968 the major airlines resumed their services at that terminal easing the jammed conditions at O'Hare Field. The identification symbol ORD used for O'Hare Field derives from the original name of the field, Chicago Orchard Airport (Douglas) which was changed to Chicago-O'Hare International Airport on December 12, 1949, by action of the City Council.
Subway
Chicago's renowned reputation for transportation continued through the mid 1900's. Work on the city's first subway began December 17, 1938. Mayor Kelly and Secretary of Interior Harold L. Ickes first broke ground on North State Street near Chicago Avenue. A deep shaft was then executed for access to the line of the subway where mining operations began. Mining through the soft, watery clay underlying the city was a difficult engineering task but it was accomplished without a single cave-in. The subway was opened October 17, 1943.
On June 22, 1958, Chicago achieved another first when the West Side Subway was opened. This was the first significant project providing rail rapid transit in the grade-separated right-of-way of a multi-lane automobile expressway and attracted world-wide attention. Transit officials from all parts of the world have come to Chicago to obtain first-hand knowledge of the project.
Highways
The Eisenhower Expressway was opened in 1956. The John F. Kennedy Expressway was opened in 1960, the Dan Ryan Expressway in 1962, and finally the Adlai E. Stevenson Expressway in 1964.
Human Health History Severe outbreaks of cholera had been reported earlier, but accurate records are not available. In 1849 the disease was brought to the city on the emigrant boat John Drew April 29 and raged until late October. That year 678 persons died, a rate of 2,897 per 100,000. 314 died between July 25 and August 28. This is the worst death rate for any cause since Chicago began keeping health statistics.
Although the germ theory of disease was still unknown, Chicago did undertake a number of sanitary improvements which markedly reduced cholera and other diseases. In the 1850's, a piped Lake Michigan water supply was introduced cutting reliance upon unsanitary wells and buckets of water from the sewage filled Chicago River. Sewers were constructed beginning in 1856 and greatly expanded after the cholera epidemic of 1866. In 1867 a remarkable drinking water tunnel--two miles out into the lake-- was opened, reducing the amount of sewage from the river in the water supply. After the 1870's cholera ceased to be a source of mortality. Cholera Deaths: Year Deaths Rate Per 100,000 Persons 1849 678 2897 1850 420 1402 (416 deaths from July 18 to August 21) 1851 216 635 1852 630 1626 1853 1 -- 1854 1,424 2162 1855 147 184 1856-1865 not significant 1866 990 494 1867 10 --
These diseases visited Chicago at various times in the 19th and early 20th century. Vaccination and improved medical care sharply reduced mortality by 1900, and practically eliminated deaths from these diseases by 1950. Periodic epidemics had many effects on public policy.
Smallpox was a constant threat throughout the 19th century. The city built its first smallpox hospital in 1843. A vaccination campaign was carried out in 1848. After another epidemic, compulsory vaccination in 1868 resulted in 95% of the city's population being vaccinated. Vaccination and quarantine measures, although effective, did not totally stop smallpox epidemics until 1893 due to the large number of unvaccinated immigrants coming to the city.
The typhoid fever epidemic of 1890-92 figured prominently in the debates over the building of the Sanitary and Ship Canal which was opened in 1900. Typhoid fever was practically eliminated in 1917 by the chlorination of the water supply.
Tuberculosis both of the lungs and of other organs was endemic throughout this period, causing as many as 4,000 deaths per year. Death rates were consistently over 150 per 100,000 persons and tuberculosis regularly accounted for more than 10% of the annual death toll. It was the last of the major contagious diseases to be controlled. The Municipal Tuberculosis Sanitarium operated until the 1970's. Tuberculosis has recently again became of significant concern with the onset of the AIDS epidemic. Significant Epidemics: Smallpox Typhoid Fever Scarlet Fever Year Deaths Rate Year Deaths Rate Year Deaths Rate Periodic epidemics 1872 524 142.6 1876 811 198.9 prior to 1881 568 105.2 1877 819 190.5 1865 1882 462 82.4 Diphtheria 1872 655 178.3 1890 1,008 91.6 1880 1,463 290.7 1873 517 136.1 1891 1,997 173.8 1881 1,180 218.5 1892 1,489 91.6 1882 1,292 230.2 NOTES: All rates per 100,000 persons. Diphtheria death rates were above 100 per 100,000 for most of the 19th century.
Physiographic Setting For millions of years the area was buried under hundreds of feet of glacial ice. In between, and after the glacial periods, the site of Chicago was covered by 60 feet of water from the prehistoric Lake Chicago. The ice caps started receding perhaps 20,000 years ago.
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