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St. James Episcopal Church

located at Cass and Illinois, the first Episcopal church in Chicago

Chicago BEFORE the Fire

Before the Fire, in the early 1870s, the United States was turning into an urban industrial nation. Chicago seemed to be the embodiment of this transformation. In 1871, it was in the process of changing its reputation from being a regional commercial center to an industrial city playing a large role in a worldwide economy.

In the beginning of the century, Chicago was a mere trading post in the middle of two coasts. When the city was granted its first charter in 1837, the population was under 5,000 residents. Around twenty years later, that number had grown by 600%, and at the time of the fire, the population was over 330,000 -- making it the fourth largest metropolis in the country.

Because of this, Chicago was already in the spotlight when the city lit up in flames on October 8th. But the attention of the world was intensified as Chicago was put to the test. The new interest was whether or not Chicago would be able to respond to the challenge of rebuilding itself after the fire had destroyed all evidence of its recent urban developments. 16, 17

factories	1100
railroads	10
grain elevators	17
terrace row	11 elegant townhouses
wooden or wood-trimmed structures	40,000+
population before fire	310,000+ (fourth largest in the nation)
streets paved with pine blocks	55 miles