Chicago Map - EXPLAINED

This is Chicago Today

But this is what Chicago looked like in 1812. Within its first 100 years

it was the fastest growing city in the world. Less than 140 years ago

such a view would have disclosed only a log fort. Before the end of the 19th century

Chicago had elevated trains, the world's first modern skyscraper, and held a world's fair that looked like this

But rapid progress didn't come without difficulty. So let's dive into its history

and break down why the map of Chicago looks like this. Chicago is really massive

so I'm going to focus mostly on just this downtown area, near where this Y in the river is

This is the Chicago River, and it's the foundation of the city

It's also the reason a city is here in the first place. In fact, the name Chicago comes from a name the Miami and Illinois people had used for a type of wild onion that grew along the river

This river led to the shortest overland path between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River

For thousands of years, this had been important for trading for the Patoatami people

and eventually became the gateway for settlers to explore the western United States

Once the Erie C was constructed, this became the only point in this entire loop where the water didn't connect

In the 1780s, Jean-Baptiste Pointe du Sable, the first non-native settler, built a homestead at the mouth of the river

He is often referred to as the founder of Chicago. And today, there is a statue of him here, near where he settled, and right next to the bridge that is now named after him

As interest in this land from the U.S. ramped up, the military built a fort, Fort Dearborn, right here, directly across the river from du Sable's settlement

Unfortunately, the fort was destroyed in a battle during the War of 1812

But today, these markers in the ground show where it stood. As happened so often, the United States continued to settle the area and force the Potawatomi people off their land, stealing it from them

Fast forward to the 1830s and the U.S. officially created the city of Chicago

and almost immediately started building a c to connect Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River

which caused land value to rise dramatically. As a result of the rise in land value, coupled with the United States Western expansion

Chicago quickly became the fastest growing city in the world. It pretty impressive to imagine that at the beginning of the 19th century nothing stood here But by the 20th century it looked like this Look at the difference between the shoreline on these two maps

As people settled along the river, their landfills and a natural buildup along a pier created a portion of land right here that hadn't existed before

In 1821, the shore was about where North St. Clair Street now is

All of this was new land. And this man took full advantage of that

George Wellington Streeter began squatting here and claimed 186 acres as his own

He began selling lots on the land and collecting taxes, although he didn't even own it

Eventually, after years of legal battles, he ended up in jail. But though he never actually owned it, this neighborhood took on his name and is now known as Streeterville

The major issues the city faced as it grew all revolved around water

Chicago and the land around it is notoriously flat. This means that there is no natural drainage for rainwater

and no easy solution for a sewage system. This led to several epidemics that needed to be addressed

as the population continued to grow. So in the mid-1800s, engineers decided to build a drainage system

on top of the existing road and raise the entire city. They would place hundreds of jack screws beneath a building

or even a whole city block and have a worker stationed at each one

and have them all turn the jack screw in unison. They didn't even have to shut down these stores as they raised them by as much as eight feet

Chicago has this motto, make no small plans, and this is a perfect example of that

Another impressive not-so-small plan was to literally reverse the flow of the Chicago River

The city is only miles from a watershed divide, where on one side the water runs toward the Pacific

and on the other side runs toward the Atlantic. This meant that the sewage and wastewater that the city was dumping into the Chicago River

was flowing into their main source of drinking water. Lake Michigan. In 1892, an impressive and ingenious solution to this was to build a c that would

cross the divide, reverse the flow of the entire river, and drain their waste into the Mississippi

They reversed the flow of the entire river, which the now downstream city of St. Louis

really didn't like. Despite the ingenuity, the city wasn't built without disaster. One night in 1871

a fire consumed this massive portion of the city in what became known as the Great Chicago Fire

The buildings were reduced to rubble. Hundreds died and tens of thousands were left homeless

The streets themselves which had been paved of wood burned But out of the piles of rubble and ashes Chicago rebuilt stronger than ever During the reconstruction the world first modern skyscraper

was erected on the corner of LaSalle and Adams. This marked the beginning of Chicago's world-leading

steel construction and architecture that continues today. 90 years later, in 1974, the world's tallest

skyscraper, the Sears Tower, was built just two blocks away. Now known as the Willis Tower and

no longer the tallest skyscraper, it houses an observation deck that gives a bird's eye view to

the city. After the fire, many of the surrounding suburbs were annexed to create a water system that

would effectively protect them from more devastating fires. In 1889, this annexation

increased the land mass of Chicago by 125 square miles, or 324 square kilometers. This made it the

largest city in the United States at the time. By the end of the 19th century, Chicago was ready to

step onto the world stage. The 1893 World's Fair, or Columbian Exposition, was held in Jackson Park

During the fair, the park was transformed into what they called the White City, where no expense

was spared. This temporary city was a beautiful feat of architecture and planning whose impact

was not so temporary, sowing the seeds for modern city planning. The fair was a shift into a new era

with a massive display of the new technology of light bulbs and the debut of the world's first

ferris wheel. Much of the temporary city burned to the ground the following year

but this building still stands and today operates as the museum of science and industry

Speaking of city planning, let's look at the first plat of Chicago. It organized the blocks

into a grid system, which is still the foundation of today's map. These diagonal streets that break

the grid are mostly remnants of ancient paths used by the Potawatomi people. The original part of the

city is now made up of neighborhoods referred to as the Loop, West Loop, and River North. When the

city exploded in size from the annexation, it caused a lot of logistical issues. It incorporated

dozens of streets, all with the same name, all in the same city. For example, there were 14 streets

called Park, and 13 called Washington. It became so confusing that the Postal Service refused to deliver to the newly annexed areas

So in 1908, Chicago changed their entire street numbering system to resolve this

It all laid out in this book and look how overwhelming of a process this was This was a huge logistical undertaking State and Madison became the starting point for all addresses So for streets that run north

if they're north of Madison, they begin with north. And once they're south of Madison

they begin with south. The same is true for streets that run east-west in relation to State

Street. The city growth also meant increased congestion between trains and carriages and

pedestrians. So the following year, the urban planner Daniel Burnham, who had played a major

role in building the White City, proposed this plan. It was a continuation of the planning

movement displayed at the fair, with a focus on cemetery and grandeur. Almost none of the plan

ended up happening, but Navy Pier right here is a result of it and is now one of the city's most

visited tourist spots. Another element of the plan that came to fruition is the Magnificent Mile

right here. Michigan Avenue Bridge, completed in 1920, created this commercial strip, which became

known for its upscale shopping. The original grid that used to clash with the natural shape of the

river now extends over it, using a series of bridges called bascule bridges. They're split in

the center and lift into the air to allow boats to pass under them. They are a large part of the

visual character of Chicago. In 2016, a riverwalk opened that beautified the waterfront and now

gives a great spot to see these bridges in action. Grant Park, right here, was set aside to be and

remain a park before Chicago was even an official city. It was declared public ground, forever to

remain vacant of buildings. Buckingham Fountain is the centerpiece of the park. Virtually in

Chicago's front yard is the magnificent Buckingham Memorial Fountain. It's beautiful and it's a great spot to look up at the skyscrapers

Just north of Grant Park is Millennium Park. This area used to just be rail yards and parking lots

but it's now home to a beautiful outdoor venue, the J. Pritzker Pavilion

and one of the first things you'll see when you look up Chicago, the Cloud Gate, better known as the Bean

I've been focusing a lot on the downtown area, but Chicago is huge

Chicago is an amazing city and this by no means is comprehensive

but I hope this helps you travel smarter if you visit. By the way, if you like learning about the history of cities

we have full courses on New York City and Paris at brighttrip.com

so we'll see you over there. Peace