FORMING THE CITY OF CHICAGO

Christian Nussbaum
 ILLINOIS TIMELINE

1837
CHICAGO BECOMES A 1871
19TH CENTURY 1830 CITY CHICAGO FIRE
MOVING WEST DURING THE 19TH INDIAN REMOVAL ACT OF 1830
CENTURY

ILLINOIS STATEHOOD IN 1818

1830 1850'S
1818 THE GRID SYSTEM IDEALIZED COMMUNITIES
INTRODUCED EMERGE
EARLY ILLOINOIS HISTORY

• MOVING WEST DURING THE 19TH CENTURY

• STATEHOOD IN 1818
• INDIAN REMOVAL ACT OF 1830
• SAC AND FOX INDIANS REMOVED FROM
ILLINOIS TERRITORY
• CHIEF BLACK HAWK FEALT CHEATED
• NATIVE AMERICAN RESISTANCE CEASES IN 1832
 “INDIAN REMOVAL WAS NECESSARY FOR THE OPENING
OF THE VAST AMERIC AN LANDS TO AGRICULTURE, TO
COMMERCE, TO MARKETS, TO MONEY, TO THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THE MODERN C APITALIST ECONOMY”
- HOWARD ZINN
 HOW TO:
DESIGNING A CITY

- TWO GROUPS OF DEVELOPERS

- THE GRID LAYOUT IN 1830

- THE 19TH CENTURY WAS DIVIDED INTO

TWO PARTS:
- FOCUS ON SPATIAL FRAMEWORK
- FOCUS ON PRIVATELY BUILT
IDEALIZED COMMUNITIES
- CENTERED AT STATE & MADISON MAP
 SPATIAL FRAMEWORK

• BUILT ON THE IDEA OF EFFICIENCY

• CONTROL OF PUBLIC WORKS IN 1837

• WATER SYSTEM FUNDED IN 1851

• SEWAGE SYSTEM FOUNDED IN 1855

 IDEALIZED COMMUNITIES

• NEW RAILS FANNED OUT TO OTHER COMMUNITIES

• ALLOWED FOR COMMUTERS TO LIVE OUTSIDE OF THE CITY
• MOSTLY UPPER-MIDDLE CLASS
• INDUSTRIAL TOWNS BUILT SURROUNDING CHICAGO
• PULLMAN FAILED
• HARVEY ORIGINALLY THRIVED
• GARY EMERGED
 WHY MOVE?

• MANY CITIZENS WERE EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS

• ‘INDUSTRIAL UTOPIA’

• LUMBER, STEEL AND PAPER INDUSTRIES TOOK

HOLD

• WORLD’S LARGEST GRAIN PORT IN 1854

 THE CHICAGO FIRE
OF 1871

• 300 DEAD; 100,000 LEFT HOMELESS

• BOOMING INDUSTRY HELPED

REGEROWTH

• NOT A CLEAN SLATE NECESSARILY

• STEEL BUILDINGS WERE BUILT 10-15

YEARS AFTER
 WORKS CITED

Chicago's Grid System. Chicago Studies | The University of Chicago. (2020, August 26).
Retrieved November 1, 2021, from https://chicagostudies.uchicago.edu/grid.

History.com Editors. (2010, March 4). Chicago. History.com. Retrieved November 1,

2021, from https://www.history.com/topics/us-states/chicago.

Abbott, C. (n.d.). Planning Chicago. Encyclopedia of Chicago. Retrieved November 1,

2021, from http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/972.html.

Chicago Architecture Center. Architecture & Design Dictionary | Chicago Architecture

Center. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2021, from
https://www.architecture.org/learn/resources/architecture-dictionary/entry/the-great-
chicago-fire-of-1871/.