F548_42_S51871Map of Chicago Showing the Parks, Boulevards and Burnt District (1871) Source: Special Collections, F548.42.S51871.
Chicago Fire map cropMap, Chicago As It Is, Showing the Burnt District (1871) Source: Special Collections
CCW 5_39 cropField, Leiter & Co. (later Marshall Field & Co.) before the 1871 fire. Source: Special Collections, CCW 5.39
CCW 5_24 cropField, Leiter & Co. after the 1871 fire. Source: Special Collections, CCW 5.24
CCW 41_6 cropState Street south of Randolph Street in 1879. Field, Leiter & Co. is at the end of the block. Source: Special Collections, CCW 41/6
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 burned the heart of Chicago, starting on DeKoven Street on the Near West Side (558 West, 1100 South) and going north to Fullerton Avenue.
The Loop was destroyed, as can be seen in these maps.
City Hall, Palmer House, Field, Leiter & Co.—all gone. But, with the rubble still smoking, Chicago began rebuilding. Just two years later, it published Rebuilt Chicago, a "coffee table" book with beautiful illustrations showing the city's progress.
For photographs of the Loop, see the photograph collection in the reading room of Special Collections. Or browse these books with photographs and drawings from the fire:
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