It was unusually hot for a Sunday evening in Chicago on Oct. 8, 1871. Temperatures were in the low 80s, and it had rained only once in the last 22 days for a grand total of 0.11 inches.
The previous summer had been like that. Record low rainfall in the previous three months dried out the city's mostly wooden buildings and sidewalks.
The city's fire department was overworked and undermanned. They had battled four other blazes that day and were exhausted.
Legend has it that a cow belonging to Patrick and Catherine O'Leary, who lived at 137 DeKoven Street on the city's southwest side, kicked a lantern over and started a fire in the barn.
While the fire probably started in the barn, the way the story was told was an attempt to cast blame on Irish immigrants who were stereotyped to be lazy and slovenly. Blaming Irish immigrants was a way to deflect blame from those who were really responsible.
Joseph Edgar Chamberlin, a 20-year-old reporter on the Chicago Evening Post, arrived on the scene within a few minutes of the barn fire.
“I was at the scene in a few minutes,” he later recalled. “The land was thickly studded with one-story frame dwellings, cow stables, pigsties, corncribs, sheds innumerable; every wretched building within four feet of its neighbor, and everything of wood — not a brick or a stone in the whole area. The fire was under full headway in this combustible mass before the engines arrived, and what could be done?”
A mix-up in the alarms delayed the response even more, although it didn't matter. According to the modern Chicago fire department, the cause of the blaze was "defective chimneys, carelessness with flame, and arson," reported the Chicago Sun-Times in their 150th anniversary story of the fire.
"There had been an average of four fires a day in Chicago the first week of October, started by tossed cigars, mischievous boys and oily rags bursting into flame," the Sun-Times reported.
Strong winds drove the fire North and East down the wooden streets to houses and barns strewn with hay and other flammables, and into the business district. The firestorm created "fire devils" — flaming vortexes that climbed hundreds of feet into the sky — that spun the fire upwards, carrying sparks and spreading the conflagration quickly and efficiently.
The fire burned for a day and a half, only being extinguished when an intense downpour doused the flames. By then, more than 17,000 buildings had been destroyed, with 300 people killed. More than 90,000 residents, or one-third of the population, were made homeless.
The fire was the result of the most spectacular growth of any city in the history of the United States. In 1832, after the Blackhawk War, there were 200 people living in Chicago. By 1835, the population had grown to 3,225.
The railroads recognized Chicago's potential immediately. Not only was it centrally located, but it also had access to the Great Lakes and the interior river system. These were the superhighways of the early 19th century. Manufactured goods and agricultural products from the Midwest were flowing into Chicago, and the railroads were making fortunes carrying those goods North, South, and East.
To Chicago's great good luck, the fire did not damage the rail yards, stockyards, or huge grain elevators. The economic heart of the city remained intact, allowing for a quick rebuild.
Or so it was thought.
After the fire, laws were passed requiring new buildings be constructed with fireproof materials such as brick, stone, marble, and limestone. These building materials, much more expensive than wood, are held together by a sticky, strong substance called mortar. The construction technique using mortar is called masonry. Masons are a skilled group of construction workers.
Many poorer Chicagoans couldn't afford the fireproof materials or skilled masons to rebuild. In addition, many could not afford fire insurance. (Before the fire, many people had insurance, but their policies were burned in the fire.) Without the means to rebuild or insure their property, thousands of people and small businesses were crowded out of Chicago.
Many other businesses simply ignored the new building laws. Wood often replaced stone, and builders decorated their buildings with wooden awnings, cupolas, and cornices.
In fact, builders mostly ignored the new laws until 1873, when two events created an entirely new way of thinking about and designing buildings.
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The Jay Cooke and Company bank failed in September 1873, precipitating the worst depression in American history to that point. The Chicago rebuild was halted in its tracks. After the bank failure, another, smaller fire destroyed 800 buildings in 1874. It was then that the city got serious about making buildings more fireproof.
New materials, including terra cotta for exteriors and relatively lightweight steel (instead of iron) were used and allowed for a revolution in construction. Buildings could be constructed vertically, making more efficient use of space. The revolution spread across the country quickly, and within two decades, cities were vying to build the tallest structures in the nation.
They called it the "Chicago School" of architecture, marked by steel-frame construction, allowed for the first skyscrapers, and the movement introduced innovations like the Chicago window, allowing for more light in offices.
The construction of the Home Insurance Building is a good example of how the Chicago School architects worked with businesses to form a new style. When the New York Home Insurance Company relocated its business to Chicago, they challenged the architectural community to come up with a design to bring natural light to all parts of the building. William Le Baron Jenney came up with a solution: Steel, lighter and stronger than iron, could be used on the upper floors.
Jenney's Home Insurance Building, on LaSalle Street, was the first to make use of a steel cage to provide a building's support. The steel frame allowed more large windows to be constructed on every side of the building. Natural light flooded the tall structure. The partitions between offices were made of brick and terra cotta. Built in 1884, the Home Insurance Building is considered to be the world's first skyscraper.
Other cities have suffered devastating fires. New York City almost burned to the ground in 1835 and again in 1845. London's 1666 fire burned for four days.
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 isn't remembered because of the destruction. It's remembered for the revolutionary and innovative way the city was rebuilt. This sets it apart from any other "Great Fire" in history.
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