Chicagology (pronounced shə-kä-goh-OL-luh-jee) is a study of Chicago history with a focus on the period prior to the Second World War. The purpose of the site is to document common and not so common stories about the City of Chicago as they are discovered. It is not intended to be a nostalgia site nor to collect info in order to promote services or products of any kind.
Research is a never-ending journey of discovery. Information posted here is constantly being revised with either additional or corrected information. Therefore, the site is in a constant growth and change state. However, browsing through Chicagology is like flipping the pages of a book. You can visit any section or page at random, yet have no difficulty in knowing where you are.
I hope that you enjoy your visit and welcome any input that you want to offer – good or bad. The intent is to provide each visitor with a pleasant ad-free experience and to ignite a flame that discovering history is just as exciting as living it.
Chicago Architecture
1850-1871 Pre-Fire Chicago – A large collection of photographs to recreate a vision of what the city looked like at this time.
1871 Building Directory
1867 Guide for Travelers to Chicago
Chicago Illustrated – The complete collection of engravings and descriptions of 1865 Chicago from the rare 13 volume series published in the Chicago Illustrated portfolios.
Whitefield’s Views of Chicago –
The Chicago Magazine – A short-lived publication about Chicago that was published in 1857.
Chicago in 1868
Raising of Chicago
Banks of Chicago – A listing of all the banking establishments before the Great Fire
Chicago’s First Wedding
1871 Chicago Fire – A section devoted to the cause and aftermath of the Great Fire.
Aftermath
Damage
Equipment
South Division
North Division
Gallery
1872-1879 Rebuilding of Chicago – A collection of the first buildings built after the Great Fire.
1874 Chicago Fire – The second great fire in Chicago occurred on July 14, 1874.
1880-1900 Golden Age of Chicago – A collection of the buildings that included the dawn of the skyscraper.
Metropolis of the Prairies – Article from October, 1880 issue of Harper’s Illustrated Magazine
Daniel Burnham 1846-1912
Then & Now – A gallery of birds eye views of Chicago from 1893 and present day.
The Paintings of Lawrence C. Earle – The mural paintings in the Chicago National Bank building.
Picturesque Chicago – An embedded gallery of line drawings depicting Chicago in the mid 1880’s
Albert Fluery – Paintings of Chicago
Odd-Fellows Building – The tallest building in the city that was never built.
Robinson’s Fire Atlas – A selection of pages from the Robinson’s Fire Atlas
Giles Bros. & Co. Anti-Magnetic Watches – This Chicago company made railroad watches that were competing with the railroad standards made by the Ball Watch Co.
First New York to Chicago Telephone Call
The Spirit of Progress
The Great Automobile Race of 1895 – The story of the first automobile race in America
Buffalo Bill’s Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show
1890-1935 Chicago Building Statistics – A chart showing the number of commercial structures that were built each year.
1892 Street Types in Chicago – 1892 character study by photographer Sigmund Krausz.
1893 World’s Fair – The biggest event of the 19th century was held in Chicago and the White City was born.
World’s Fair Gallery
Paintings
International Conference on Aerial Navigation
Origin of the Y Symbol
Jenison Tent Plan
Fair Firsts
1894 Fair Fires
State Buildings
Inter Ocean Illustrated Supplements
The Book of the Fair Editions
World Premiere
The Great Race of 1895
1896 Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show – A detailed description of this popular show that opened the first Coliseum on June 1, 1896.
1898-1901 Oliver Typewriter Catalog
1908 Burlington Grain Elevator Fire
1908 A Trip Through Sears, Roebuck and Co
1909 Skyscrapers
1909 Chicago Facts – A contemporary listing of Chicago’s accomplishments.
1909 Plan of Chicago – The Burnham Plan is an essay, principally authored by Daniel Burnham in 1909, entitled The Plan of Chicago. The essay was written in response to a request by the city’s social and business upper crust for a detailed city plan.
1909 Selfridge’s of London
1910 Chicago – Article that was originally published in the 1912 booklet by the Illinois Central Railroad, “Chicago and the Tourist.” Embellished with period photographs of downtown Chicago.
State Street in 1910 – Article published in the Chicago Examiner in 1910 about the booming department store industry on State Street.
1913 Night in Chicago
1916 Chicago
1917 Flag of Chicago – A short history and the meaning of the official flag of Chicago
1920’s Buildings
1921 Pageant of Progress
1922 Pageant of Progress
Chicago Sports in 1929
1930’s Buildings
1930 Chicago Artists
1932 Chicago Architecture-Is It Beautiful?
1932 Randolph Street Development Proposal
1933 Century of Progress World’s Fair – The second World’s Fair held in Chicago celebrated her first hundred years.
Century of Progress Gallery
History of the Century of Progress
Robert & Peggy – Twelve part series of children visiting the Century of Progress exposition.
1933 Aida – A special performance of Aida at Soldiers’ Field.
1937 Charter Day
1940 The New Deal – Article from the Chicago Tribune detailing the buildings lost to the wrecking ball due to the 1933 New Deal.
Baseball – Take a trip to a bygone era where the Cubs were called the White Stockings and had to miss two seasons because a fire in 1871 destroyed their uniforms.
Bicycling – Before the automobile, the bicycle was the new mode of individual transportation and Chicago played a major role.
Biographies
Biographical essays on some of the first pioneers of Chicago.
John H. Kinzie
Gordon Saltonstall Hubbard
Mark Beaubien
Samuel Insull
W. D. Kerfoot
Joseph Leiter
Caroline McIlvane
Charles D. Peacock
William B. Ogden
John T. Pirie
Mrs. Bertha Palmer Sr.
George M. Pullman
John Wentworth
Breweries of Chicago
Schoenhofen Brewery’s Toy Boys
Chicago Saloon Keepers
Chicago Prohibition Beer
Camp Douglas – A Civil War prison of war camp that at one time was the setting of an event that could have changed the outcome of the war.
Central Manufacturing District – The story of the first planned manufacturing district in the United States.
Cemeteries – Chicago is the home to four of the oldest cemeteries in a large city.
Chicago Advertising
Chicago Billboards
Lord & Thomas
Coburn, Cook and Co.
Leo Burnett
Chicago, Second City and Windy City Origins
Explanations to why Chicago is called “Chicago” and how she got labeled as the “Windy City”.
Chicago Streets – Articles about the street numbering logic as well as who her early streets were named after and why.
Chicago Street Numbering
Early Streets
Alleys and Gangways
Chicago Street Names
State Street
Chicago Street Name Changes
Pioneer Highways
Development of the Superhighway System
Assembly Way
Avondale Superhighway System
1908 Victor Falkenau’s Michigan Avenue Tunnel Proposal
1908 J. Madison Pace’s Michigan Avenue Tunnel Proposal
South Water Street
Wacker Improvement Plan
Motor Exits Out of Chicago
Agatite Street Name Mystery
Fake Street
Magnolia Street
Prairie Avenue – Millionaire’s Row
Magnificent Mile
Ashland Boulevard – Asphalt pioneer
Samuel E. Gross, Real Estate Promoter
State Street Illumination Festival
1891 Travel Times to Chicago
1896 Geographic Center of Chicago
1905-1936 Automobile Row
1904 Automobile Show
1908 Automobile Show
1909 Automobile Show
1910 Automobile Show
1911 Automobile Show
1914 Automobile Show
1916 Automobile Show
1929 Automobile Show
1932 Automobile Show
1946 Tucker Automobile
Chicago Courthouses – A brief history of the seven Chicago courthouses.
Chicago Dining
Chicago Fire Department – A brief history of the Chicago Fire Department.
Chicago Fire Department Companies in 1887
Chief Denis J. Swenie
Chicago Fire Department Stats – Charts that depict the number of fires and their damages in Chicago between 1863 and 1921
Chicago Golf Club – A brief history of the one of the most important golf clubs in the United States
Chicago Harbor – A detailed description of the activity in Chicago’s harbor in its peak from 1872 to 1884.
The Great Chicago River Flood of 1849
Reversing the Chicago River
Straightening of the Chicago River
Chicago’s Municipal Pier
Chicago Water Cribs
Chicago River Lighthouse
Christmas Tree Ships
Christmas Trees After Christmas Tree Ships (1921)
Ships of John Gregory
Chicago Shipbuilding Company
Peter Nissen’s Foolkiller
Chicago Grain Elevators
Chicago River Bridges1897 Obstruction Report on the Chicago River
Dearborn Street Bridge 1880
Van Buren Street Bridge #5
Chicago River Bridges in 1913 – An article written by By J. B. Strauss of the Strauss Bascule Bridge Company
South Branch Bridges
North Branch Bridges
Main Channel Bridges
1863 Rush Street Bridge Incident
Michigan Avenue Bridge
Chicago Libraries—A brief sketch of some of the libraries in Chicago written in 1895.
Chicago in Literature
Chicago Mayors 1835-2011
Chicago Park System DevelopmentChicago Beaches Development
Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park Police
Grant Park—Open, Clear and Free
Jackson Park Golf Course
The Chicago Zoological Park
The Chicago Forest Preserves
Chicago Newspapers – A complete family tree directory of all the Chicago Newspapers. Organized by each successive owner by date.
Chicago Tribune Tower Competition
Tribune Tower
Freedom of the Press Mural
History of the Tribune Presses
From Trees to Tribune
Tribune Tour No. 1—Seeing the News Room
Tribune Tour No. 2—Printing the Chicago Tribune
Chicago to Berlin on the Untin Bowler
Injun Summer
First Color News Spot Picture
Dick Tracy
Tribunes 100th Anniversary
Newsboys’ Dinner
Chicago Police – A brief history of the early years of the Chicago Police Department.
Chicago Police Firsts
First Fallen: Constable James Quinn The first Chicago Police Officer killed in the line of duty.
Chicago Police Chief Charles Healey
Chicago Police Stars
Harrison Street Police Station
Chicago Automobile License Pins
Captain Francis O’Neill – A Chicago cop during the last quarter of the 19th century was also the foremost expert on Irish songs.
Detective Clifton Wooldridge – Chicago’s Sherlock Holmes.
Detective Sergeant Marie Owens – The world’s first police woman
Sergeant Patrick Collins
Chicago’s Fat Police Force
Main 13
History of the Ford Squads
Detective Bureau History
First Finger Print Murder Trial
Police Car Radio
Scientific Crime Detection Laboratory
Call Boxes
A Day With Our Mounted Police – A reprint of an article from the November 1921 issue of Fort Dearborn Magazine.
1911 Traffic Congestion
Traffic Signals
East Chicago Avenue Police Station
Chicago Police Baseball Games of 1941
Marquette Ten
Chicago Post Office HistoryChicago’s First Post Office
Main Post Office
Pneumatic Tube Mail System
Montague Letter Boxes
Chicago Public School System Early History
The Chicagoan – Covers of the short run The Chicagoan social magazine that was published in 1926
Corporate Chicago – Brief corporate histories of a few of the many large corporations that started in Chicago.First National Bank of Chicago
First National Bank II
First National Bank of Chicago III
First National Bank IV
Jewel Tea Company
Marshall Field & CompanyMarshall Field Warehouse
Marshall Field & Co. State Street Store
Marshall Field Garden Apartment Homes
Fashions of the Hour
Motorola
Rand McNally & Co.
R. R. Donnelley & Sons
SearsRoebuck & Co.Sears West Side Headquarters
A Trip Through Sears, Roebuck & Co
Sears Catalog Covers 1898-1930
Sears Catalog Covers 1931-1960
Sears Catalog Covers1961-1993
Sears Modern Home
Craftsman
Walgreens
Western Electric Hawthorne
Decoration Day
Football
Fort Dearborn – The fort that started it all.The Battle of Fort Dearborn
The Massacre Tree
Model of the First Fort Dearborn
Last Great War Dance in Chicago
A Wolf Hunt in Early Chicago
Christmas at Fort Dearborn
Horse Racing
Notorious Chicago – A collection of some popular and some unpopular stories that made up Chicago’s notorious past.
1855—Beer Riot
1860—The Lady Elgin Disaster
1880—Little Hell
1880—Hairtrigger Block
1888—Snell Murder
1886—Streeterville
1886—Haymarket Riot
1893—Henry Mudgett Murders
1893—Carter Harrison Sr Murder
1893—Mystery of 3901 Prairie Avenue
The Levee District1897-1917—The Levee District
1896-1909—The First Ward Ball
1896-1903—Lone Star Saloon
1899—Bathhouse Coughlin
1900-1910—Everleigh Club
1903—Workingman’s Exchange
1897—Sausage Vat Murder
1903—Iroguois Theatre Fire
1903—Car Barn Bandits
1904—Doremus Church Train Wreck
1908—Elevator Fire
1909—Crib Fire
1910—Union Stockyards Fire
1911—O’Leary’s Saloon
1912—RMS Titanic
1915—The Eastland Disaster
1915—The Eastland Disaster Motion Picture
Red Summer of July, 1919July 21—Wingfoot Express
July 22—The Janet Wilkinson Murder
July 27—Race Riots
1924—Leopold & Loeb
1924—Beulah Sheriff Annan & Belva GaertnerCHICAGO GANGLAND BY JAMES O’DONNELL BENNETT
1929—St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
1929—St. Valentine’s Day Massacre Cars
1933—End of Prohibition
1934—John Dillinger & Melvin Purvis
1934—Baby Face Nelson
1937 & 1939—Manhole Blast
1937 Steel Mill Riot
1939—Elevator Fire
1939—Truck Hijacking
1957—Haunted HousesAL CAPONE
Capone Era, Part 1
Capone Era, Part 2
Capone Era, Part 3
I Was a Capone Juror
Population & Ward Maps – A complete set of charts that indicate each ward’s boundaries during Chicago’s early years.
Population & Annexation
1837 Ward Map
1847 Ward Map
1853 Ward Map
1863 Ward Map
1869 Ward Map
1876 Ward Map
City Limits & Ward Map 1835-1869
CHICAGO TRANSPORTATION
Chicago’s railroad boom was also the home of the General Time Convention which established the four time zones. Afterwards, Chicago became a major airline hub.RAIL
The Iron Horse in Chicago
Chicago: The Greatest Railway Center in the World
Chicago and the Railroad System of the Middle West
Steam Railway Maps of Chicago, 1848-1910
Steam Railway Map of Chicago, 1915
Chicago’s Railroad StationsAt the End of the Line
Chicago Railways Company Routes
North Chicago Street Railroad Company
West Chicago Street Railroad Company
Chicago, Joliet & St. Louis Electric Railway
Chicago & Alton Railroad
Chicago Burlington & Quincy
Chicago & Northwestern Railway
Chicago’s Elevated Railroad
Chicago Railway System in 1884
Chicago and South Side Rapid Transit Railroad Company
Union Loop Nuisance
The Grand Crossing
Chicago Surface Lines
Chicago Tunnel Company
State Street Subway
Chicago Elevated Maps
AIR
International Conference on Aerial Navigation, 1893
Some Aeronautical Experiments by Wilbur Wright, Chicago, 1901
Municipal Airport
Chicago Midway Airport
Chicago Aviation Center
Northerly Island Airport (Meigs Field)
1910 Aviation Carnival
1911 Aviation Show
1933 American Air Race
1937 Amelia Earhart
Raising Chicago – Article describing how the citizens of Chicago got its town out of the mud.
St. Patrick’s Day in Chicago
Seal of Chicago – A brief description of the Seal of Chicago.
Silent Movie and Radio Capital – Chicago was briefly the silent movie capital of the country.
Essanay Film Company
Selig Polyscope Company
Bell & Howell Model 2709 Motion Picture Camera
Balaban & Katz’s Movie Palaces
The Adventures of Kathlyn
At Old Fort Dearborn & Pioneer Days
Electrical Show of Chicago
Chicago Movie Film Firsts
Carl Laemmle
Charlie Chaplin
Industrial Films
Wilding Picture Productions
Burton Holmes Films, Inc.
In Old Chicago
Radio
Radio Capital
Radio Growth in Chicago
WGN Transmitter
WGN FM
WGN Firsts
Zenith Radio Corporation
Sporting Goods Capital — With names like Spalding, Wilson, Brunswick, Schwinn, and Kiefer, Chicago has been home to many of the most recognizable brands in sporting goods manufacturing.
Tallest Buildings — Tables that show the history of the tallest buildings in the United States and Chicago
Theatres of Chicago — A comprehensive list of the the theatres and music houses that existed in pre-1900 Chicagp.History of The Arts in Chicago
Nickelodeon Theatres in Chicago
Opera in Chicago — A brief history of Chicago’s own opera companies.Civic Opera House – A description of the new Civic Opera House written at the time of its opening in 1929.
Mary Garden
Chicago Symphony Orchestra — A short history on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Orchestra Hall, written in 1929 by CSO conductor Frederk Stock.
The Mikado in Chicago
Union Stockyard
A Day at the Union Stockyard
I am researching Chicago Fire Fighters who died in the line of duty. There were several incidents that occurred in the commission houses on South Water. I was wondering if you could shed some light on how those businesses worked. I have a good idea but wanted to confirm with someone who might actually know. Currently I am working on an incident that occurred on block 19. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I am looking for anything about the taste of honey club in 1973
I have a ceramic Made in Japan.
Salt,Pepper, Sugar that sit’s in a boat of my Great Grandmother’s.
It read’s CHICAGO 1833-1933 Century of Progress on it.
Would this be of interest to someone I could sell it to?
I am trying to locate a full-page spread in the Daily Journal, Chicago, Illinois about my mother MARY DARDUGNO winning Chicago broad jump. I believe this article was featured in July, 1923 or 1924.
Any help or direction will be very much appreciated.
Regards,
Michael Daly
It will be interesting to see what artifacts are preserved from this year’s Cubs’ World Series victory over the Cleveland Indians last evening. Hopefully, it won’t be another 100+ years before they repeat. I am also wondering how odd those artifacts will look when the next century turns over. It was a great series with really good baseball. That’s something to remember for sure.
I was wondering, did you had any pictures of pre-fire warehouses or pre-fire stables? Also, were there other stables in pre-fire Chicago after the union stockyards opened?
I am writing the first spreadsheet from the American point of view about 19th century rotunda panoramas. These were the biggest paintings in the world, 50 x 400=20,000 square feet, housed in their own rotundas which were 16-sided polygons. Chicago in 1893 had 6 panorama companies and 6 panorama rotundas
[]The Reed & Gross company was located in Englewood (the studio may have been at NE corner Harvard Avenue & 65th Street aka H.H.Gross Subdivision) 1885-88. They produced units of BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG and JERUSALEM ON THE DAY OF THE CRUCIFIXION for cities from coast to coast and beyond: Australia, New Zealand, Canada, England, Europe, West Indies, South American.In autumn 1888 they removed to Australia to set up 2 rotundas in Melbourne,1 in Adelaide,1 in Sydney, and later in New Zealand. They returned by 1890 and produced THE CHICAGO FIRE Panorama ,using two 5 x 40 1/10th scale prototypes (1) from the site of Fort Dearborn, which was donated to Chicago Historical Society in 1905), and (2) from the point of view of the former BATTLE OF SHILOH panorama rotunda which stood on Michigan between Madison and Monroe; this latter prototype canvas was on display at WHITE CITY AMUSEMENT PARK, courtesy Emmett W. McConnell, “The Panorama King”.
[] A.T.Andreas, who published the three volume HISTORY OF CHICAGO, produced BATTLE OF SHILOH in Chicago, BATTLE OF MANASSAS for Washington, D.C., and MONITOR & MERRIMAC for NYC
[]William Wehner of Chicago built his panorama studio in downtown Milwaukee. From 1885-88 he produced 2 units of BATTLE OF ATLANTA,2 units of MISSIONARY RIDGE & LOOKOUT MOUNTAIN, and 3 units of JERUSALEM ON THE DAY OF THE CRUCIFIXION. On September 18,2003 I found in the display case of Milwaukee County Historical Society the F.W.Heine diaries 1879-1921. This is the only narrative of a panorama company. The Heine diaries are as important to the history of 19th century rotunda panoramas as the letters of Theo and Vincent Van Gogh are important to the history of Post Impressionism. The diaries needed to be transcribed in German, translated to English, scanned to computer. Michael Kutzer, born 1941 in Leipzig, is transcriber of the project. When Van Gogh died in 1890 his letters were already considered a National Treasure in France and were soon published. A short time later this material was translated and published the world wide. When Heine died in 1921 the importance of his illustrated journals ( begun in 1860 when he was 14) were acknowledged in the German language press but were NEVER PUBLISHED. The Heine family donated these to Milwaukee County Historical Society in the 1960s.Some volumes were displayed in a display case out front, the rest put in a pasteboard box and put beneath the desk of the curator, which he kicked every time he sat at the desk to work. THE FIRST VOLUME IS MISSING. Heine was a war correspondent for GARTENLAUBE, and witnessed the 1866 Austrian-Prussian War,1870-1 Franco Prussian War and the declaration of the German Empire at Versailles.Michael released years 1885-1893 to me to edit,index and annotate, and share with interested parties. He presently works on years 1880-mid 1885, which tell of formation of early panorama cartels in Brussels and elsewhere in Europe, the early phase 2 rotunda panoramas, and meeting with Wehner in Europe, and his emigration.Info to share