Great Chicago Fire - 1871
N 41° 53.814 W 087° 37.477
16T E 448187 N 4638517
Was Mrs. O'Leary's cow responsable?
Waymark Code: WM2AHZ
Location: Illinois, United States
Date Posted: 10/02/2007
Views: 219
Although public word-of-mouth still reports today that Mrs. O'Leary's cow started the fire. The reporter who started the Cow story admitted in 1893 that he had made it up. In fact, the O'Leary buildings escaped the blaze.
The fire started on the eve of October 8, 1871 and finally was extinguished with the help of wet weather on October 10, 1871. It had traveled through and destroyed almost all of the buildings of the central business district of Chicago. An area 6 km long and 1 km wide was burned. 1/3 of the city's valuation was destroyed, 1/4 of the population was homeless, and fatalities were estimated at 200-300 (125 bodies were recovered).
In the wake of the fire, only one public structure survived. Today, the Chicago Water Tower still stands as an unofficial memorial of the Great Chicago Fire.