The Great Chicago Fire of 1871
ReadExplore several sketches from Harper’s Weekly of the
Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Before the Internet and television, people learned
the news of the day from firsthand accounts and sketches in newspapers such as
these.
The Great Fire in Chicago - Group of Refugees in the Street (1871) by Harper's WeeklyThe Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 killed nearly 300 people, left 100,000 homeless, destroyed over $190 million worth of property, and leveled the entire central business district of the city.
Chicago in Ruins (1871) by Harper's WeeklyThe Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
The fire broke out just after 9 p.m. on October 8 in the barn of Patrick and Catherine O’Leary on DeKoven Street. By the time firefighters arrived, the fire was already out of control. The fire raged for two days before it was extinguished by rain on October 10.
Chicago in Flames - Burning of the Chamber of Commerce and the Crosby Opera House (1871) by Harper's WeeklyThe Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
On October 8, John R. Chapin, an illustrator for Harper’s Weekly, was in Chicago and was awakened by a commotion in the hotel’s hallway:
“I rose and went to the window, threw open the blinds, and gazed upon a sheet of flame towering one hundred feet above the top of the hotel, and upon a shower of sparks as copious as drops in a thunder-storm.”
The Burning of Chicago - Rush of Fugitives through Potter's Field toward Lincoln Park (1871) by Harper's WeeklyThe Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
He went on to describe his harrowing escape from the fire and how he watched helplessly as fire consumed the city. Since Harper’s was a weekly publication, the news was often a week or two old when the journal was published. The eyewitness account and sketches featured here were printed twenty days after the fire, but that does not diminish their power.
Developed by The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
