Recovery After a brief period of shock, Chicagoans began to rebuild their city. Within days a few pioneer businesses sprang up in sheds and stands among the ruins, and traffic started moving again. The rubble was swept away, a good portion of it pushed into the lake south of the river to create new real estate. Basic services were quickly started up again in temporary locations--the post office, for example, was set up in the Methodist Church on the corner of Wabash Avenue and Harrison Streets. Corner of State and Madison After the Fire, 1871 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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Al Capone - Chicago Black Sox - A Century of Progress - Chicago Fire
The World's Columbian Exposition - Parades, Protests and Politics
The Pullman Era - The Stockyards
Fort Dearborn (Coming Soon!)

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