Union Stockyard Gate - Chicago, IL
Posted by: 
Hikenutty
N 41° 49.114 W 087° 38.902
16T E 446151 N 4629835
Chicago was famous for its huge stockyards and the filth and stench of the area inspired many a writer, including Sandburg, Dreiser, and most famously, Upton Sinclair for his book, "The Jungle." This gate marks their entrance.
Waymark Code: WM2J3Y
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 11/09/2007
Views: 214
The Union Stockyards thrived for over a century until their closure in 1971. This limestone gate marked the entrance of the yards and it is one of the only remaining reminders of Chicago's reign in the livestock and meat packing industries. It was designed by the famous architecture team of Burnham and Root in 1875. The "then" picture was taken 1905 when the meat packing industry was still booming. You can see cattle in the picture being led through the gate into the stockyards. The gate was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1981.
The steer seen on the gate is thought to represent "Sherman" a prize-winning bull named after John B. Sherman, one of the founders of the Union stock Yard and Transit Company.
It was this area that inspired Carl Sandburg to write the line "Chicago, Hog butcher to the world," in his famous poem "Chicago". The yards inspired many well known American writers, but the most famous book set at and around the stockyards is Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle". The book exposed the dirty and dangerous conditions of the industry, prompting President Theodore Roosevelt to push for reform.
The following passage from Sinclair's book was set near here at the packinghouse gates.
All day long the gates of the packing houses were besieged by starving and penniless men; they came, literally, by the thousands every single morning, fighting with each other for a chance for life.