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This guide map, published just after the Great Chicago Fire, superimposes the burned area over the gridded street pattern. The fire started southwest of the city center and burned over 2,000 acres, noted by the shaded red area.
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 km 2) of the city including over 17,000 structures, and left more than 100,000 residents homeless.
The aptly called "Burnt District," a map of which appeared in virtually every printed account of the fire, comprised an area four miles long and an average of three-quarters of a mile wide — more than two thousand acres — including more than 28 miles of streets, 120 miles of sidewalks, and at least 2,000 lampposts.
And almost to the minute that the fabled Chicago Fire broke out, a more deadly fire exploded to life 240 miles (3 90 km) to the north along the shores of Green Bay.
Before and After the Fire: Chicago in the 1860s, 1870s, and 1880s. Click on the links below to access scans of some of the sheet maps of Chicago from the 1860s, 1870s, and 1880s that are held at the University of Chicago Library's Map Collection.
4 mar 2021 · The Great Chicago Fire killed around 300 people. Thankfully, in the morning of October 10, 1871, rain started to aid firefighters in extinguishing the fire. The Great Chicago Fire spread around 3.3 miles.
4 mar 2010 · The Chicago Fire of 1871, also called the Great Chicago Fire, burned from October 8 to October 10, 1871, and destroyed thousands of buildings, killed an estimated 300 people and caused an...
