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  Corner of State and Madison After the Fire  
Corner of State and Madison After the Fire, 1871 Back in Business
Four horse-drawn streetcars at "the world's busiest intersection," as men in the street ponder the future of the downtown. Some broadsides, perhaps indicating the new addresses of businesses, are already posted, and the rubble is being gathered into piles, but the awesome wreck of the old city and the smoky atmosphere still dominate the scene.


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The Great Chicago Fire and the Web of Memory
Copyright © 1996 by the Chicago Historical Society and the Trustees of Northwestern University
Last revised 10-8-96