Chicago

The Great Chicago Fire

By melissaverdade

  • A Fiery Prelude

    A Fiery Prelude
    A week of several small fires appears to climax with what would become known as the Saturday Night Fire. It begins late in the evening and soon devastates twenty buildings on the city’s Near West Side.

  • The Great Fire

    The Great Fire
    At about nine in the evening, the Great Chicago Fire begins in or near the barn behind the cottage of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary, on the north side of DeKoven Street between Jefferson and Clinton streets.

  • 8:30 to 10:00 p.m.

    8:30 to 10:00 p.m.
    The fire starts in the O'Leary family's barn at DeKoven and Jefferson streets. A watchman spots the fire from the courthouse tower, but locates it near Canalport and Halsted.

  • 10 p.m. to Midnight

    10 p.m. to Midnight
    The fire, fanned by the strong southwest wind, is on the move, and terrified Chicagoans start to flee. Struggling firefighters are unable to control the flames. By 11:30 pm, the raging fire has leapt the southern branch of the Chicago River.

  • Midnight to 2 a.m.

    Midnight to 2 a.m.
    By midnight, the gasworks explodes, fueling the fire and leaving most of the city without lights. Shortly after that, flames engulf Conley's Patch, a poor Irish area of the city, so quickly that many residents are unable to escape.

  • 2 a.m. to 4 p.m.

    2 a.m. to 4 p.m.
    The fire leaps the main branch of the Chicago River and burns fiercely in the North Division. Heat, dust, and cinders drive residents to Lincoln Park and the cemetery at its southern end. By 3 am, all hope of saving the city is shattered as the Waterworks goes up in flames.

  • 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.

    2 a.m. to 6 a.m.
    Escaping city residents are forced as far east as they go- to the edge of Lake Michigan. Clusters of people, belongings, and animals are trapped on the shoreline.

  • First Response

    First Response
    With the fire still blazing and the city in havoc, Common Council President Charles C. P. Holden assembles what city leaders he can in the safety of the First Congregational Church in the West Division’s tenth ward, which he represents. Mayor Roswell B. Mason arrives and soon issues a proclamation outlining numerous emergency measures.

  • Proclamations

    Proclamations
    With the fire now finally out, Mayor Mason issues a proclamation advising caution, calling for volunteers to serve as special police, asking citizens to organize local watches, indicating where food is available.

  • Calling in the Troops

    Calling in the Troops
    Mayor Roswell Mason states that the distribution of relief will be the responsibility of a Special Relief Committee, with headquarters in the temporary city hall that has been set up in the First Congregational Church. This committee will also issue free railroad passes for those wishing to leave the city.

  • "Calm, Quiet, and Well-Disposed"

    "Calm, Quiet, and Well-Disposed"
    The mayor, city comptroller, city treasurer, and other officials move into a building at the corner of Hubbard Court (now Balbo Street) and Wabash Avenue. General Sheridan reports that all is well, and that “the people of the city are calm, quiet, and well-disposed.”

  • Restoring a Lifeline

    Restoring a Lifeline
    Some three hundred machinists are working day and night to restore water to residents. The hope is to return the main engine to service by the middle of the week. In the meantime, railway locomotives and steam fire engines are pumping Chicago River water into mains.

  • Money and Water Start to Flow

    Money and Water Start to Flow
    Recent rains have lowered anxieties about additional fires. The Board of Health bans the use of water closets until water service is restored. The repaired engines in the waterworks on Chicago Avenue start operating in the evening, and water is flowing to the South Division the next day.

  • Catherine O'Leary Defends Herself

    Catherine O'Leary Defends Herself
    A reporter pays a visit to Catherine O’Leary at her home on DeKoven Street. Although her barn is gone, her cottage is not harmed. She denies all the details of the story that one of her cows started the fire by kicking over a kerosene lamp. She says she never entered the barn that fateful evening and that she was in bed when the fire began.

  • Bibliography

    Bibliography
    "Before and After the Fire." Before and After the Fire. University of Chicago, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/collections/maps/chifire/. "Before the Chicago Fire." Smithsonian Magazine. Smithsonian, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013. <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/ "Chicago Fire of 1871." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. http://www.history.com/topics/great-chicago-fire.