Hot Time in Old Town Tonight- The Story of the Great Chicago Fire during the 1800's

Hot Time in Old Town Tonight

A blanket of darkness surrounded the city after a day filled with people routinely bustling around. This slumbering city was rudely awakened when someone shouted "Fire!" Sheer mania enveloped this town as it struggled, to no avail, to extinguish a fire that raged with the vengeance of a roaring lion. Little did the people know what the inferno would do. This great fire can best be illustrated by describing the short time of prosperity, rapid destruction, and the slow rebuilding process of Chicago.

Chicago was a flourishing city in the 1860's to 1870's until a catastrophic event changed it all. Chicago was growing quickly, and people divided Chicago into three sections, by the mighty Chicago River. The first section was the North Division. The North was very wealthy, and had more privileges than others. The poor people were worthless in their sight, and they the only reason they were in poverty was because they did not work hard enough.

Fire in Dumpster

The maze of livestock pens and walkways at the Uni...

English: in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Their houses were mansions or large homes. The second section was the West Division. The West Division was middle class, but most of them were living in great poverty. The lots were middle size. The last section was the South Division. The homes of poverty were here. The people were all different races; few white English men lived there. Their housings were smaller than a regular lot, with little space

for a house (Chicago Internet). Chicago was very diverse when it came to the North, West, and South Division.

In 1871, Chicago was rapidly growing with ten railroads that went coast to coast, seventeen-grain elevators, eleven hundred factories, over three million head of livestock at the Union Stockyards. There were also commercial exchanges, where people buy, sell, and trade for a profit, such...