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The Great Chicago Fire
Definitive treatment of 1871 fire — one of the greatest disasters in American history — includes eyewitness accounts and before-and-after illustrations. 70 photographs and engravings.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
87 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1979
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 22, 2019
Late one night when we are all in bed
Old Mother Leary left a lantern in the shed,
And later when the cow kicked it over, she winked her eye and said
There will be a hot time in the old town, tonight.” - 1896
On October 8th in 1871, on a hot and windy night, a fire broke out in Chicago and burned for two days. It left 300 people dead, destroyed 17,000 structures and caused two million dollars in damages. It left 100 thousand homeless as it burned a path four miles long and one mile wide. One-third of the city was destroyed. The city has a booming population (300 thousand) and the disaster led to looting and crime until the military was called in.
Author David Garrard Lowe has written a fine book with many eyewitness accounts of the most famous fire in American history. Many people who lived through it, saw many acts of bravery including people who risked their own lives to save children. People wrote that the fire made the sky so beautifully surreal, almost like it was filled with fireflies which were actually the burning embers. Desperate families ran for their lives to the river, Lake Michigan or outskirts of town to escape. Many parts of the essays, diaries and letters of survivors are in the book.
The book also has many wonderful photographs and also before and after illustrations. One of the most interesting parts of the book for me was what or who caused the fire. The poor O'Leary family had their lives ruined because they were blamed for starting the fire by a reporter who made up the story. The fire did start on their farm but we do not know what or whom started the fire. The O'Leary's were Irish Catholic and there was a lots of anti-Irish propaganda in Chicago at the time.
There was a terrible drought and the entire city was made almost entirely of wood which made the city a tinderbox. There had been a fire the day before, on October 7th, that left the firefighters exhausted and damaged some of their equipment. The fire department consisted of 185 men with horse drawn steamers, using coal to run the water pumps and they were no match for the enormous blazes. It changed the way we thought of fire safety forever and changed the way we built our cities and streets.
Today the Chicago Fire Department has a training location on the location of the O'Leary farm. In 1997, the Chicago City Council exonorated Catherine O'Leary and her cow. Four informative stars for making me go back in time and feel such a connection to the city of Chicago during this terrible fire.
Old Mother Leary left a lantern in the shed,
And later when the cow kicked it over, she winked her eye and said
There will be a hot time in the old town, tonight.” - 1896
On October 8th in 1871, on a hot and windy night, a fire broke out in Chicago and burned for two days. It left 300 people dead, destroyed 17,000 structures and caused two million dollars in damages. It left 100 thousand homeless as it burned a path four miles long and one mile wide. One-third of the city was destroyed. The city has a booming population (300 thousand) and the disaster led to looting and crime until the military was called in.
Author David Garrard Lowe has written a fine book with many eyewitness accounts of the most famous fire in American history. Many people who lived through it, saw many acts of bravery including people who risked their own lives to save children. People wrote that the fire made the sky so beautifully surreal, almost like it was filled with fireflies which were actually the burning embers. Desperate families ran for their lives to the river, Lake Michigan or outskirts of town to escape. Many parts of the essays, diaries and letters of survivors are in the book.
The book also has many wonderful photographs and also before and after illustrations. One of the most interesting parts of the book for me was what or who caused the fire. The poor O'Leary family had their lives ruined because they were blamed for starting the fire by a reporter who made up the story. The fire did start on their farm but we do not know what or whom started the fire. The O'Leary's were Irish Catholic and there was a lots of anti-Irish propaganda in Chicago at the time.
There was a terrible drought and the entire city was made almost entirely of wood which made the city a tinderbox. There had been a fire the day before, on October 7th, that left the firefighters exhausted and damaged some of their equipment. The fire department consisted of 185 men with horse drawn steamers, using coal to run the water pumps and they were no match for the enormous blazes. It changed the way we thought of fire safety forever and changed the way we built our cities and streets.
Today the Chicago Fire Department has a training location on the location of the O'Leary farm. In 1997, the Chicago City Council exonorated Catherine O'Leary and her cow. Four informative stars for making me go back in time and feel such a connection to the city of Chicago during this terrible fire.
December 14, 2014
A brief but fascinating illustrated history of Chicago's most important historical event.
October 7, 2018
With the exception of a 2 1/2 page Introduction, the text of this book is *only* the eyewitness accounts. I expected more historical information to tie everything together. It was interesting, and the photos and map fascinating; it just wasn't what I expected.
December 2, 2024
Eyewitness accounts of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. This book gave a really interesting perspective on the fire.
January 4, 2025
A collection of first person stories about the Chicago fire with only a page or two of editorial information. The stories frequently repeat details and are unsure about others. Some real historical research would have been appreciated here.
October 3, 2015
This book consists of eyewitness accounts by persons caught in the Chicago Fire of 1871 and rare photos and drawings. It is easy to read and really takes you inside the moment so that you can see, hear, feel with all senses the event. A quick and easy book to read, but fascinating.
July 29, 2015
Very descriptive accounts of what happened during the fire....could envision what it was actually like.
April 28, 2016
It was a nice book that had great information on the historical event, but it was bland and took effort to read and complete. But it was an overall good book.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews