Chicago was a sprawling metropolis in 1871. Yet it was also a city ripe for disaster. First, Chicago was built almost entirely of wood. Wooden grain elevators, lumber mills, hotels, dilapidated houses and barns, bridges, and even streets, paved with pine blocks, were perfect sources of kindling. Second, Chicago also made, stored, bought, and sold a surplus of inflammable goods. As a result, in the hot, dry summer of 1871, Chicagoans had a right to be concerned.
By early October, Chicago’s crack firefighters were exhausted, having spent a grueling week extinguishing 24 fires. However, on the evening of October 8, the firefighters’ stamina would be tested again. It is rumored that at 8:30 in the evening, Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicked over a lantern in the barn, starting the Great Chicago Fire. In just a few minutes the barn was ablaze. In an hour the entire block was burning. In the street, the bellow of trapped cows could be heard, as building after building burned. The flames simply could not be stopped; all efforts proved futile. By the following morning, much of Chicago lay in ashes.
The Great Chicago Fire was finally checked by rainfall and by the use of gunpowder. Yet the losses were staggering. In all, 300 deaths were reported. More than 100,000 people were left homeless, and 17,500 buildings were demolished. But nothing could destroy the will of the people to rebuild the city. Soon, the rebuilding began. Architects flocked to the city in droves, eager for the chance to build high into the sky. City planners also came. As a result, Chicago became the beneficiary of bold new ideas in construction, city planning, and technology. In just a few years the city became the open-air gallery of skyscrapers, grand boulevards, and parks that it still is today.