Chicago, Illinois

I visited Chicago in February of 2000 when I visited the Illinois Institute of Technology. The handful of pictures I have of Chicago are from a brief sightseeing tour the college offered. While in college in Milwaukee, I went to the Chicago International Auto Show a couple of times, but did not see much of the city.

Chicago, Illinois is the third largest city in the United States, with a population of 2.8 million people in the actual city of Chicago, and nearly 10 million in the entire metro area. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County. The name Chicago come from a Native American word meaning strong or great.

Chicago was incorporated as a town on August 12, 1833, with a population of 350. It became a city on March 4, 1937. By that time, the population had reached 4,170.

Some notable events in Chicago's history include:

Chicago's Great Fire. Around 9:00 P.M. on Sunday, October 8, 1871, a fire broke out in Mr. Patrick O'Leary's cowbarn. The exact cause of the fire was never determined, though legend holds that a cow knocked over a lantern. The fire spread quickly and destroyed most of the city.

First Skyscraper Built. The first skyscraper was built in Chicago in 1885. The building was the 9-story Home Insurance Building. It has long been demolished and another building constructed on the site.

Chicago River Reversed. The Chicago River originally flowed into Lake Michigan, which was also the city water supply. In order to keep sewage from the Chicago River from reaching the lake, a massive project including a 28-mile canal to reverse the flow of the river was started in the 1800s and completed in 1900. The Chicago River now flows into the Mississippi River system.

Some of Chicago’s landmarks are covered in the following posts:

Chicago Skyline
Adler Planetarium
Soldier Field

Chicago Links:
City of Chicago
Willis Tower
Shedd Aquarium
Adler Planetarium
Soldier Field

Continue to Chicago Skyline…