Chicago and the Great Conflagration

Complete with numerous illustrations, detailed maps and descriptive accounts of the disaster, this volume provides in-depth contextual information about the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.?Beginning on Sunday, October 8 and ending on Tuesday, October 10, the 1871 conflagration killed hundreds of people and destroyed nearly 3.3 square miles of downtown Chicago.?Started in a small barn near 137 DeKoven Street, for years the fire was thought to have been sparked by a cow that had kicked over a lantern. In 1893, this account was admitted to be fictional, and historians continue to contemplate the cause of the fire today.?While the aftermath of the disaster left the city in ruins, the rebuilding that began weeks after the flames subsided helped Chicago develop into one of the most populous and economically important cities in America.