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Great Chicago Fire

1870s in Chicago1871 fires1871 in IllinoisChicago LandmarksFires in Illinois
Great Chicago FireHistory of ChicagoOctober 1871 eventsPages with missing ISBNsUrban fires in the United StatesUse American English from March 2019Use mdy dates from September 2018
Chicago in Flames by Currier & Ives, 1871 (cropped)
Chicago in Flames by Currier & Ives, 1871 (cropped)

The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned in the American city of Chicago during October 8–10, 1871. The fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed roughly 3.3 square miles (9 km2) of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 100,000 residents homeless. The fire began in a neighborhood southwest of the city center. A long period of hot dry windy conditions, and the wooden construction prevalent in the city, led to the conflagration. The fire leapt the south branch of the Chicago River and destroyed much of central Chicago and then leapt the main branch of the river, consuming the Near North Side. Help flowed to the city from near and far after the fire. The city government improved building codes to stop the rapid spread of future fires and rebuilt rapidly to those higher standards. A donation from the United Kingdom spurred the establishment of the Chicago Public Library, a free public library system, a contrast to the private, fee-for-membership libraries common before the fire.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Great Chicago Fire (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Great Chicago Fire
West DeKoven Street, Chicago Near West Side

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N 41.8693 ° E -87.6418 °
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Chicago Fire Academy

West DeKoven Street 558
60607 Chicago, Near West Side
Illinois, United States
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Chicago in Flames by Currier & Ives, 1871 (cropped)
Chicago in Flames by Currier & Ives, 1871 (cropped)
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Hull House
Hull House

Hull House was a settlement house in Chicago, Illinois, United States that was co-founded in 1889 by Jane Addams and Ellen Gates Starr. Located on the Near West Side of the city, Hull House (named after the original house's first owner Charles Jerald Hull) opened to serve recently arrived European immigrants. By 1911, Hull House had expanded to 13 buildings. In 1912 the Hull House complex was completed with the addition of a summer camp, the Bowen Country Club. With its innovative social, educational, and artistic programs, Hull House became the standard bearer for the movement that had grown nationally, by 1920, to almost 500 settlement houses.The Hull mansion and several subsequent acquisitions were continuously renovated to accommodate the changing demands of the association. In the mid-1960s, most of the Hull House buildings were demolished for the construction of the University of Illinois-Chicago. The original building and one additional building (which has been moved 200 yards (182.9 m)) survive today. On June 23, 1965, it was designated as a U.S. National Historic Landmark. On October 15, 1966, the day that the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 was enacted, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. On June 12, 1974, the surviving Hull mansion was designated as a Chicago Landmark.Hull mansion was one of the first four structures to be listed on both the Chicago Registered Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places list (along with Chicago Pile-1, Robie House & Lorado Taft Midway Studios). After The Hull House Association moved from the original buildings complex in the 1960s, it continued to provide social services in multiple locations throughout Chicago. It finally ceased operations in January 2012. The Hull mansion and a related dining hall, the only remaining survivors on the Hull House complex, are now maintained as a history museum.