How a muddy river portage became a great American city
A short guide to the early history of Chicago, from a trading post at the mouth of the river to a city of more than a million people in about sixty years.
Where the name comes from
The name Chicago is usually traced to a Miami-Illinois word, often written shikaakwa, for the wild leek or wild onion that grew along the river. Long before any city, the area was home to Native nations including the Potawatomi, and the short portage between the Chicago River and the Des Plaines River linked the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River system.
A trading post at the mouth of the river
In the 1780s Jean Baptiste Point du Sable built a farm and trading post near the mouth of the Chicago River. He is generally recognized as the first permanent non-Native settler. The bridge where Michigan Avenue crosses the river is named for him.
Why it grew so fast
Geography did most of the work. Canals and then railroads made Chicago the point where the farms and forests of the West met the markets of the East. Grain, lumber and livestock moved through the city, and people followed the jobs.
Early Chicago timeline
- 1780sJean Baptiste Point du Sable settles near the mouth of the Chicago River.
- 1803The U.S. Army builds Fort Dearborn on the south bank of the river.
- 1812The fort is evacuated and destroyed during the War of 1812. It is rebuilt in 1816.
- 1833Chicago is incorporated as a town.
- 1837Chicago is incorporated as a city.
- 1848The Illinois and Michigan Canal opens, and the first railroad out of Chicago, the Galena and Chicago Union, begins service.
- 1865The Union Stock Yards open on the South Side.
- 1871The Great Chicago Fire burns much of the city in October. About 300 people die and roughly 100,000 are left homeless. Rebuilding starts almost at once.
- 1885The Home Insurance Building is completed. It is often called the first skyscraper.
- 1890The census counts more than one million residents.
- 1893The World's Columbian Exposition draws visitors from around the world.
- 1900The flow of the Chicago River is reversed with the opening of the Sanitary and Ship Canal.
See early Chicago for yourself
- Chicago Water Tower on Michigan Avenue, one of the few buildings in the burned district to survive the 1871 fire.
- Fort Dearborn site at Michigan Avenue and Wacker Drive, marked in the sidewalk near the DuSable Bridge.
- Chicago History Museum in Lincoln Park.
- The Newberry Library, with deep collections on Chicago and Midwest history.
Researching your town or your house
- Your local library and historical society. Most Chicagoland towns have one, often with old photos, maps and newspapers.
- Sanborn fire insurance maps. Detailed building-by-building maps, many available through the Library of Congress.
- County property records. In Cook County, the Clerk's office keeps recorded deeds that show a property's chain of owners.
Thinking about owning a piece of Chicagoland history?
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