Great Chicago Fire

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Artist's rendering of the fire, by John R. Chapin, originally printed in Harper's Weekly; the view faces northeast across the Randolph Street Bridge.

The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871. The fire killed up to 300 people, destroyed roughly 3.3 square miles (9 km2) of Chicago, Illinois, and left more than 100,000 residents homeless.[1] Though the fire was one of the largest U.S. disasters of the 19th century, and destroyed much of the city's central business district, Chicago was rebuilt and continued to grow as one of the most populous and economically important American cities. The very night the fire broke out, an even deadlier fire annihilated Peshtigo, Wisconsin and other villages and towns north of the city Green Bay.



The fire started at about 9:00 P.M, October 8, in or around a small barn that bordered the alley behind 137 DeKoven Street.[2] The traditional account of the origin of the fire is that it was started by a cow kicking over a lantern in the barn owned by Patrick and Catherine O'Leary. In 1893, Michael Ahern, the Chicago Republican reporter who wrote the O'Leary account, admitted he had made it up as colorful copy.[3] The shed next to the O'learys' was the first building to be consumed by the fire, but the official report could not determine the exact cause.[4] There has, however, been some speculation that would suggest the fire was caused by a person, instead of a cow. Some testimonies stated that a group of men were gambling inside the barn so they would not be seen by others. The lamp that they were using was accidentally knocked over, which is what started the fire. Little evidence has been presented to prove whether or not this is true. There has been speculation as to whether the cause of the fire was related to other fires that began the same day. See Questions about the fire.

The fire's spread was aided by the city's use of wood as the predominant building material, a drought prior to the fire, and strong winds from the southwest that carried flying embers toward the heart of the city. More than ⅔ of the structures in Chicago at the time of the fire were made entirely of wood. Most houses and buildings were topped with highly flammable tar or shingle roofs. All the city's sidewalks and many roads were also made of wood.[5] Compounding this problem, Chicago had only received an inch of rain from July 4 to October 9 causing severe drought conditions.[6]

In 1871, the Chicago Fire Department had a force of 185 firefighters with just 17 horse-drawn steam engines to protect the entire city.[7] The initial response by the fire department was quick but due to an error by the watchman, Matthias Schaffer, the fire fighters were sent to the wrong location allowing the fire to grow unchecked.[7] An alarm sent from the area near the fire also failed to register at the courthouse where the fire watchmen were located. Additionally, the firefighters were tired from having fought numerous small fires and one large fire in the week before.[8] These factors combined to turn a small barn fire into a large scale conflagration.

Spread of the blaze[edit]


By the time firefighters finally arrived at DeKoven Street, the fire had grown and spread to neighboring buildings and was progressing towards the central business district. Fire fighters had hoped that the South Branch of the Chicago River as well as an area that had previously thoroughly burned would act as a natural firebreak.[9] All along the river however were lumber yards, warehouses, and coal yards, along with barges and numerous bridges across the river. As the fire grew, the winds from the southwest intensified and became superheated, causing structures to catch fire from the heat as well as from burning debris blown by the winds. Around 11:30 PM, flaming debris blew across the river and landed on roofs and the South Side Gas Works.[10]

With the fire across the river and moving rapidly towards the heart of the city, panic set in. About this time, Mayor Roswell B. Mason sent message to nearby towns asking for assistance. When the courthouse caught fire, he ordered the building to be evacuated and the prisoners jailed in the basement to be released. At 2:20 AM on the 9th, the cupola of the courthouse collapsed sending the great bell crashing down.[11] Some witnesses reported hearing the sound from a mile away.

As more buildings succumbed to the flames, a major contributing factor to the fire’s spread was a meteorological phenomenon known as a fire whirl.[12] As overheated air rises, it comes into contact with cooler air and begins to spin creating a tornado-like effect. These fire whirls are the likely causes of driving flaming debris so high and so far. Such debris was blown across the main branch of the Chicago River to a railroad car carrying kerosene.[13] The fire had jumped the river a second time and was now raging across the city’s north side.

Despite the fire spreading and growing rapidly, the city’s firefighters continued to battle the blaze. A short time after the fire jumped the river, a burning piece of timber lodged on the roof of the city’s waterworks. Within minutes, the interior of the building was engulfed in flames and the building was destroyed. With it, the city’s water mains went dry and the city was helpless.[14] The fire burned unchecked from building to building, block to block.

Finally late into the evening of the 9th, it started to rain but the fire had already started to burn itself out. The fire had spread to the sparsely populated areas of the north side having consumed the densely populated areas thoroughly.[15]


The sculpture on the site of the origin of the fire, with the Chicago Fire Academy in the background
A marker commemorating the fire outside the Chicago Fire Academy
Municipal Flag of Chicago. The second star commemorates the fire.[16]
PROCLAMATION, Chicago History Museum
Relief for the destitute, Chicago History Museum
To the Homeless of the Chicago Fire, Chicago History Museum

Once the fire had ended, the smoldering remains were still too hot for a survey of the damage to be completed for many days. Eventually the city determined that the fire destroyed an area about four miles (6 km) long and averaging 3/4 mile (1 km) wide, encompassing more than 2,000 acres (8.1 km2).[17] Destroyed were more than 73 miles (117 km) of roads, 120 miles (190 km) of sidewalk, 2,000 lampposts, 17,500 buildings, and $222 million in property—about a third of the city's valuation. Of the 300,000 inhabitants, 100,000 were left homeless. 120 bodies were recovered, but the death toll may have been as high as 300. The county coroner speculated that an accurate count was impossible as some victims may have drowned or had been incinerated leaving no remains.

In the days and weeks following the fire, monetary donations flowed into Chicago from around the country and foreign cities, along with donations of food, clothing, and other goods. These donations came from individuals, corporations, and cities. New York City gave $450,000 along with clothing and provisions, St. Louis gave $300,000, and the Common Council of London gave 1,000 Guineas as well as ₤7,000 from private donations.[18] Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Buffalo, all commercial rivals, donated hundreds and thousands of dollars. Milwaukee, along with other nearby cities, helped by sending fire-fighting equipment. Additionally, food, clothing and books were brought by train from all over the continent.[19] Mayor Mason placed the Chicago Relief and Aid Society in charge of the city’s relief efforts.[20]

Operating from the First Congregational Church, city officials and the Aldermen began taking steps to preserve order in the city. Price fixing was a key concern. In one ordinance, the city set the price of bread at 8¢ for a 12-ounce loaf.[21] Public buildings were opened as places of refuge, and saloons closed at 9 in the evening for the week following the fire.

The fire also led to questions about the developments in the United States. Due to Chicago’s rapid expansion at this time, the fire led to Americans reflecting on industrialization. The religious point of view said that Americans should return to a more old-fashioned way of life, and that the fire was caused by people ignoring morality. Many Americans on the other hand believed that a lesson that should be learned from the fire was that cities needed to improve their building techniques. Frederick Law Olmsted attributed this to Chicago’s style of building:


Olmsted also believes that with brick walls and disciplined firemen and police, the damage caused and deaths would have been much less.[22]

Almost immediately, the city began to rewrite its fire standards, spurred by the efforts of leading insurance executives and fire prevention reformers such as Arthur C. Ducat and others. Chicago soon developed one of the country's leading fire fighting forces.

Land speculators, such as Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard, and business owners quickly set about rebuilding the city. The first load of lumber for rebuilding was delivered the day the last burning building was extinguished. By the World's Columbian Exposition 22 years later, Chicago hosted more than 21 million visitors. The Palmer House hotel burned to the ground in the fire 13 days after its grand opening. Its developer Potter Palmer secured a loan and rebuilt the hotel to higher standards across the street from the original, proclaiming it to be "The World's First Fireproof Building".


Questions about the fire[edit]



The cow and fire story is the story which puts the blame on Catherine O’Leary; it is explained by Richard F. Bales. A fire broke out in the barn of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary and began to spread through Chicago. As the fire was still burning the fingers began to be pointed at Mrs. O’Leary and her cow. The story states that the fire began as Mrs. O’Leary was milking a cow and the cow kicked over the lamp which began the fire by setting the straw on fire which set the barn on fire. This was denied by the O’Leary household stating that they were already in bed before the fire started, but stories of the cow began to spread across the city. O’Leary was later exonerated.[26]

Chicago Tribune editorial

The amateur historian Richard Bales has suggested the fire started when Daniel "Pegleg" Sullivan, who first reported the fire, ignited hay in the barn while trying to steal milk.[27] Anthony DeBartolo reported evidence in the Chicago Tribune suggesting that Louis M. Cohn may have started the fire during a craps game.[28] According to Cohn, on the night of the fire, he was gambling in the O'Learys' barn with one of their sons and some other neighborhood boys. When Mrs. O'Leary came out to the barn to chase the kids away at around 9:00, they knocked over a lantern in their flight, although Cohn states that he paused long enough to scoop up the money. Following his death in 1942, Cohn bequeathed $35,000 which was assigned by his executors to the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. The bequest was given to the school on September 28, 1944, along with his confession.



But as meteorites are not known to start or spread fires and are cool to the touch after reaching the ground, this theory has not found favor in the scientific community.[31][32] A common cause for the fires in the Midwest can be found in the fact that the area had suffered through a tinder-dry summer, so that winds from the front that moved in that evening were capable of generating rapidly expanding blazes from available ignition sources, which were plentiful in the region.[33][34] Methane-air mixtures become flammable only when the methane concentration exceeds 5%, at which point the mixtures also become explosive.[35][36] Methane gas is lighter than air and thus does not accumulate near the ground;[36] any localized pockets of methane in the open air would rapidly dissipate. Moreover, if a fragment of an icy comet were to strike the Earth, the most likely outcome, due to the low tensile strength of such bodies, would be for it to disintegrate in the upper atmosphere, leading to an air burst explosion analogous to that of the Tunguska event.[37]

Surviving structures[edit]



Related events[edit]





In popular culture[edit]

  • The City of Chicago and Redmoon Theater partnered up to create The Great Chicago Fire Festival. The festival was held on October 4, 2014 with the intention of it possibly becoming an annual event, however the festival itself fell victim to technical difficulties as replicas of 1871 houses on floating barges in the Chicago River failed to ignite property due to electrical problems and heavy rain on the proceeding days.

See also[edit]

Panorama of Chicago after the 1871 Fire[edit]

Image attributed to Nick Bernhard.


  3. ^ "The O'Leary Legend". Chicago History Museum. Retrieved 2007-03-18. 
  5. ^ {|Murphy, Jim. The Great Fire. U.S.A: Scholastic Inc, 1995. Book.|}
  12. ^ Abbott, Karen. "What (or Who) Caused the Great Chicago Fire?". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 14 February 2014. 
  23. ^ Chicago Landmarks. retrieved December 14, 2006
  26. ^ Richard F.Bales, "Did the Cow Do It? A New Look at the Cause of the Great Chicago Fire, "Illinois Historical Journal 90 no.1 (Spring 1997): p. 2,3,11.University of Illinois Press,
  28. ^ DeBartolo, Anthony (1997 & 1998). "Who Caused The Great Chicago Fire: The Cow? Or Louis M. Cohn?". Hyde Park Media. Chicago Tribune.  Check date values in: |date= (help)
  31. ^ Calfee, Mica (February 2003). "Was It A Cow Or A Meteorite?". Meteorite Magazine 9 (1). Retrieved 2011-11-10. 
  37. ^ Beech, M. (November 2006). "The Problem of Ice Meteorites". Meteorite Quarterly 12 (4): 17–19. Retrieved 2011-11-13. 
  38. ^ WBEZ: Cider House Story []
  39. ^ WBEZ: Cider House Story []
  41. ^ a b Wilkins, A. (2012-03-29). "October 8, 1871: The Night America Burned". Gawker Media. Retrieved 2013-10-09. 

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]
