October 8 - The Great Chicago Fire Began

This Day in History: 8 October 2020

 

8 October 1871

 

149 years ago, today, the Great Chicago Fire began. This blaze lasted two days and killed between 200 and 300 people, destroyed 17,450 buildings and left 100,000 homeless. It has been speculated that a cow kicked over a lantern in the Chicago barn of Patrick and Catherine O'Leary and started the fire. However, other theories believe that humans or even a comet may have been responsible. Dry weather and an abundance of wooden buildings, streets and sidewalks also made Chicago vulnerable to the fire. In 1870, the year before the fire, the city averaged two fires per day.

 

Despite the fire's widespread destruction, much of Chicago's physical infrastructure, including the water and sewage systems, remained intact. Reconstruction quickly began and initiated great economic growth, laying the foundation for a modern city with the world's first skyscrapers. By 1893, Chicago was a major economic and transportation hub with an estimated population of 1.5 million. The city attracted approximately half the US population in the same year, as they visited the World's Columbian Exposition. In 1997, the Chicago City Council declared Mrs. O'Leary and her cow as innocent. She turned into a recluse after the fire and died in 1895.

 

Want to find out more about the Great Chicago Fire? Click here for more information, or here for more about 'the O'Leary Legend'.