The City of Chicago As It Was Before the Great Conflagration – Vintage Map Wall Art
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
A window into the past: The City of Chicago As It Was Before the Great Conflagration, preserved in this antique map. An authentic image from the Library of Congress, it carries the weight of the real historical record.
Library of Congress record: The City of Chicago as it was before the great conflagration of October 8th, 9th, & 10th, 1871
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The City of Chicago As It Was Before the Great Conflagration
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The Great Chicago Fire of October 1871 destroyed much of the city's central business district, and this bird's-eye view was published to show the city as it stood just before that disaster. Its perspective looks across the built-up grid toward Lake Michigan, recording the dense rows of commercial blocks, church spires and the wharves along the Chicago River that the flames would soon consume. Panoramic maps like this were drawn from elevated viewpoints so that a city's streets, buildings and waterfront could be read at a glance, and they were popular with residents and business owners who wanted a record of their town. Today the print serves as a detailed snapshot of a city on the verge of its rebuilding.
| Created / published | 1871 |
|---|---|
| Source | Library of Congress, Panoramic Maps |
| Original scan | 4,854 × 3,462 px · prints to 16 × 12 in at 300 dpi |
| Library of Congress title | The City of Chicago as it was before the great conflagration of October 8th, 9th, & 10th, 1871 |
| Reference | IL-Chicago-1871 |
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