*^-W5»p.= ^;^jgta|$ >3}M MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO A COMPLETE HISTORY, REFERENCE BOOK, AND GUIDE TO THE CITY. X . 1/ ^X ILLUSTRATED. JAN 23 l ^•FWun CHICAGO: A. N. MAKQUIS & CO., PUBLISHEES, LAKESIDE BUILDING, 1885. Copyright by A. N. MAKQUIS & COMPANY 1884 ?5' A. N. MARQUIS & CO., GENERAL BOOK PUBLISHERS, Lakeside Building, - Chicago. Correspondence with authors solicited. All manuscripts given prompt readings. PEEFACE In presenting Marquis' Hand -Book of Chicago to the public, the publishers desire to call attention to the fact that it occupies a field not filled — nor even attempted — by any previous publication. Its design is to give a comprehensive view of the leading features of the great metropolis of the northwest, bringing out into bold relief the social, business, religious, charitable, educational and other lines of its progress, through tersely drawn sketches of the most striking details of each, so grouped as to convey a clear and strong impression of the growth and condition of that element of Chicago life. The historical sketch is a natural and necessary pre- lude to the rest of the work, the materials for which have been collected and compiled with great care and cost, from, data fur- nished by the highest authority ; and much of the matter was written by Mr. Franc B. Wilkie, the well known journalist, to whose ample knowledge and rare versatility of expression the volume owes many of its best qualities. The aim has been to produce a book which would answer the questions of every class of enquirers, at home and abroad, and it is believed that the task has been at least measurably accomplished, and with as great a degree of accuracy as was attainable by the employment of every available means to that end. It has been the endeavor to secure the utmost economy of space consistent with fullness and accuracy, with such an arrangement of the matter as will afford the greatest facility for reference. Hence, so far as possible, subjects of a kindred nature have been collected under appropriate headings, and an index appended which the reader will find indispensable. In dealing with so many diverse facts, it is not improbable that some inaccuracies have crept in, and that there are some omissions. Errors are unavoidable in a first edition, especially in a work of this character ; but it is hoped that by dint of careful revision, with numerous contemplated additions to the list of illustrations — the majority of which was made expressly for the book — to render future editions very nearly perfect. The book will be subjected to frequent and thorough revisions, and suggestions for improvement and information of changes and corrections are solicited, and should be addressed to A. N. Marquis & Co., Lakeside Building, Chicago. October, 1884. CONTENTS BY CHAPTERS. Page. Preface .... 3 Chicago — An Historical Sketch 5-28 The Thoroughfares— Streets, Avenues, Bridges, Tun- nels, Street Eailways ....... 29-38 Transportation Facilities— Eailways, Eivers, Canals, Lake 39-60 The Public Buildings 61-68 The City Government 69-76 The Militia— Military Organizations in Chicago . . 77-80 Parks and Boulevards 81-98 Charity and Benevolence — Charitable, Benevolent and Humane Institutions, etc 99-130 The Clubs and Societies 131-158 The Burial Places . . 159-172 The Eeligious Institutions— Churches, etc. . . . 173-206 Educational Institutions 207-220 The Libraries ' 221-226 Arts and Sciences— Art and Scientific Organizations . 229-234 Places of Amusement 235-244 The Newspaper Press 245-256 The Musical Societies 257-260 The Exchanges— and Business Associations , . . 261-266 The Hotels 267-274 Eeal Estate Interests 275-292 Business Houses 295-328 Index to Full Page Illustrations 329 Index to Smaller Illustrations 329-330 Index to Text 330-336 $@TTo find any particular item or subdivision of topic, consult Index to Text, pages 3 .0 to 336. CHICAGO. AN HISTORICAL SKETCH COME two hundred and eleven years ago, Louis Joliet and Father Jacques Marquette, who had journeyed from Canada in canoes to the Mississippi Eiver, via the Wisconsin and Fox Eivers, returned to Lake Michigan — then known as Lac Des Illinois — by way of the Illi- nois, Desplaines and Chicago Eivers.* The last named rivers were till then unknown to the two explorers, who followed First Family Residence in Chicago. them by the advice of some friendly Indians, as a means of shortening the return route. In time they came into a narrow stream which was probably then but little more than a slough. Paddling along its sluggish current, the keels of their canoes soon glided down the south branch of the Chicago Eiver, through the site of the present city of Chicago, and into the clear waters of the lake. So far as is known, this trip of Joliet and Marquette — one a holy man, in search of savage souls to be saved and locations for the estab- lishment of missions, and the other an explorer in search of wealth — revealed to white men their first glimpse of the site of the great city. *Mr. Albert D. Hager, the well known librarian of the Chicago Historical Society, who is justly regarded as high authority, contends, in an able paper read before the Society, that this was not the route followed, and shows clearly that it might have been -but, as we weigh the evidence, not conclusively— that it was, by way of the Des Plaines, the " sag," Stony Brook, and the Calumet. 6 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. Evidently what they saw made no striking or abiding impression on them. There was nothing around this embouchure of a little muddy stream which led from the prairie into the lake, to indicate its magnifi- cent future. If the travelers saw anything of importance, or which suggested the site of a populous city, they made no mention of it in their diary. They were weary with their long journey, and poor Mar- quette was oppressed with a premonition that he was close to the end of the journey of life. And so the first white men who ever saw the site of Chicago passed it without comment. Fancy the holy exaltation of the dying Marquette, could he have glanced forward two centuries ! Site of Chicago. One may picture with some degree of fidelity the scene these two men looked upon, if they cared to lift their weary eyes and glance about them during the few moments that preceded their entry into the lake. Away back on the horizon a dead level of green, with not an interruption to break the monotony. The water on which they pad- dled was sluggish, turbid, inert, covered with a slimy green, and con- tained within banks that scarcely rose above its dead level. Back of the lake for leagues the adjacent country was a level morass from which rose stalwart reeds and brawny grasses, and over which prevailed an inundation that seemed limitless as to extent and eternal as to dura- tion. Along the shores of the lake, to the right and left, interminable stretches of sand, now smooth as a floor, now blown into dunes, with MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 7 here and there patches of gnarled timber, squat, unhealthy, and add- ing a feature of desolation to the scene, instead of relieving the mo- notonous aspect of the waste. If the two travel- worn voyagers glanced at all over the surroundings, they must have felt that nature had here made an especial effort to construct a region to be avoided. This was in August, 1673, and, considering the character of the location, it has been none too long since to afford time in which to transform that area of desolation into the marvelous city which now fills its place. For more than a century the sand dunes shifted, the dwarfed vege- tation died and was renewed, the marshy areas of sedge were undis- turbed. Cincinnati, Cleveland, Detroit, St. Louis and other places were founded, and began their growth. There occurred the French and English wars in which Wolfe and Montcalm died and filled adjacent graves. There were British and Indian massacres, Pontiac, and other notables, and finally it was decided to build a fort on Lake Michigan for the protection of the country from Canadian and Indian incursions. The site at first selected was on the east side of the lake at St. Joseph, but for some reason the present site of Chicago * was chosen. And then began to exist, or to become visible, the protoplasm which in time would, by the processes of evolution, become the city of Chicago. The river gave the name to the city. The stream was called Che- caugou by the native Indians, and is said to have taken this designa- tion from a mephitic animal peculiar to the locality, and whose odor may have been a foretaste of what the completed city was to experience in after years from the rendering establishments of " Bridgeport." There were Indians all about in those far-off days, when the lake winds sighed or roared among the sodden rushes, and Chicago slept in the womb of the future. There were first the Miamis and Mascoutins, and later the Pottawatomies and others, who made forays for scalps and plunder on adjacent tribes, and were in turn raided by their enemies, when they yielded such of their scalps, ponies, and other aboriginal assets as they could not retain. For a time the region about the mouth of the Chicago River was in the possession of France. French priests visited it, and there are various legends, traditions and the like, which go to establish the fact * Chicago is situated about the fork and mouth of the Chicago River, on the west shore of Lake Michigan, and near the head of that fine inland sea, in latitude 41° 52' north, and longitude 87° 35' west. The city comprises an area of 23,040 acres, which is divided into north, south and west divisions (commonly known as North Side, South Side and West Side) by the river and its branches. 8 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. that there were a half dozen or more white men who were " the first " to visit the locality. Marquette is the one who stands most promi- nently in this connection and, as the original white pioneer, will prob- ably go down to posterity on the stream of history. This much, how- ever, seems to be settled : In 1795 the Indian residents ceded to the United States an area of six miles square, on which, in 1803, Fort Dearborn was erected. Back of this date, there is but little which does not belong to the age of myth, like the period of Romulus with reference to the future city of Rome. Back of all great cities there lies a period which is dim and mysterious, of which much is conjectured, asserted and denied, but little or nothing is known. Even Chicago, the newest and most enterprising of modern cities, has its mythical past into which enter few save the disputatious, and whose character, even if fully known, would confer no great benefit on posterity. It was, then, in 1803 that Chicago entered on her historical period. For over a century prior to this date, the French had more or less occupied the locality ; and when the time came for their removal, they must have felt as did the Moors of Grenada when expelled by the Spaniards after some eight hundred years of almost undisturbed ownership. From 1779 to 1796, a period of seventeen years, one Baptiste Point DeSaible, a San Domingo negro, resided here as a trader among the Pottawatomie Indians. His cabin was situated on the north side of the main branch of the river, and near where it turns to the south. In 1796 he sold his landed possessions to LeMai, a French trader, and re- turned to Peoria, whence he had come, and soon afterward died. July 4, 1803, marked an event in the history of the place that signalized the beginning of a new epoch. In those days the selection of a site for a frontier fort was generally made with an eye to the advantages of its location in respect to certain facilities and surround- ings that constitute prime elements in the growth and prosperity of a city. This was the case with Chicago. The government having found the situation most favorable for its purpose, Capt. John "Whistler, who was in command of a company of regular troops stationed at Detroit, was ordered to proceed to this point and construct a fort. Capt. Whistler came in a sailing vessel, accompanied by his wife and son George, and his eldest son, Lieut. William Whistler, and young bride, leaving Lieut. Jas. S. Swerrington to bring the soldiers around by land. The vessel arrived at the mouth of Chicago Kiver on the day men- tioned, and thus, on the anniversary of American independence, in MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 9 1803, began the story of a municipal growth that was destined to surpass that of any other city of the old and new worlds. Capt. Whistler commenced operations by the construction of Fort Dear- born, on the point of land extending between the lake and the south bank of Chicago River, the enclosure including a portion of Michigan Avenue as it now is. The fort consisted of two block houses, from which there led an underground passage to the river, for the purpose, probably, of securing an outlet to water in case of siege. The grounds occupied were quite spacious, being sufficient for a parade ground, and also to furnish a garden for the cultivation of vegetables. The entire space was enclosed by a strong palisade. Just outside of the palisade, on the west of the fort, was a log house used as a warehouse for the storage of goods intended for distribution among the Indians. The fort was garrisoned at this period by a force of sixty-two officers and privates. There were three pieces of artillery and the necessary amount of small arms. The site of the fort was very charming, being one of the highest points on the lake, and commanding an excellent view in every direction. There is a vague legend that this fort was not the first which occupied the spot, and that as far back as 1718 there had been a fort in the same locality. But this misty legend cannot be allowed to rob Fort Dearborn of the honor of having been the pioneer enterprise of the kind in this vicinity. The first permanent white settler was John Kinzie, who came to Chicago in the spring of 1804, and who was the progenitor of the numerous and respectable family of that name that was so much iden- tified with the early history of the Garden City. He was a silversmith by trade, but acted as Indian sub-agent, and Indian trader. He was a Canadian by birth, and died here in 1828, at the age of sixty-five years. He is regarded as one of the founders of the city, although it was many years after his death before it began to exhibit any indica- tions of its surpassing future. Mr. Kinzie became the owner of the cabin formerly occupied by the San Domingoan, DeSaible. He enlarged and improved it from time to time until he made it a comfortable home and a hospitable shelter to all who found its doors. The old "Kinzie House," as it is now familiarly called, was last occupied by Mark Noble who, with his family, lived in it as late as 1832. At that time, however, it was fast going to decay, and it shortly afterward became a thing of the past. It was the first family residence in Chicago. There is a lively discussion as to who had the honor to be the first 10 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. white child born in Chicago. A daughter of John Kinzie, just men- tioned, named Ellen Marion, was born in December, 1805. Some children had been born in the fort, but as the military were not per- manent residents, and perhaps a little out of deference to the sex, the honor is generally conceded to Ellen Marion Kinzie. There was but little change in or about Fort Dearborn for several years. The visitors were chiefly Indians; the inhabitants were few although fairly prosperous. In the summer of 1812, the entire popu- lation consisted of John Kinzie and family; a French laborer named Oulimette ; a Mr. Burns with wife and children ; and some four miles up the South Branch was a farmer named White, tenant of a land- owner, named Lee, and three French laborers in White's employ. Within the fort there resided Capt. Heald, Lieut. Helm and Sergt. Holt, and their families. In addition to these there were some sixty- four soldiers, of whom twelve were militia. All of the officers of the year 1803 had been changed, Heald taking the place of Whistler; Lieut. Helm held the second place ; George Bohah was ensign and Van Voorhis, surgeon. And now there came into view on the horizon a cloud, at first "no bigger than a man's hand," but which speedily became a hurricane of most deadly force. War was declared by the United States against Great Britain, and the Winnebagoes and Pottawatomies became hostile to the whites. As early as April, 1812, the first-named tribe made a stealthy raid against the settlement, and managed to kill and scalp White, and one of the French laborers employed by him. The other two escaped, made their way to the fort and gave the alarm ; but from this time till August nothing serious occurred, beyond some small raids made by the Indians for the purpose of stealing cattle, or in the hope of securing the scalp of some unsuspicious laggard a^out the settlement. An order came from Gen. Hull, at Detroit, for the garrison of Fort Dearborn to move out and go to Fort Wayne, unless in a condition to stand a siege. Capt. Heald is represented as a man who lacked decis- ion of character, and hence did not comprehend the situation. It is now conceded that had he moved at once after getting the order, or even had he staid and made a determined defense, he would have es- caped the calamity which soon after overtook him. He concluded to evacuate the fort, against the advice of his subordinate officers, of Mr. Kinzie, and of some friendly Indians; but in place of carrying out his resolution at once, he determined to try and placate the Indians by calling them together and dividing among them the stores which re- 12 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. mained on hand, and which he could not carry with him. The meeting with the Pottawatomies was held on the 12th of August, and it was agreed that the stores should be divided among them, and that they should furnish an escort for the garrison to Fort Wayne, for which they were to receive a liberal reward. The agreement to give the Indians arms, ammunition and whisky was so clearly disadvantageous and dangerous to the whites, and Mr. Kinzie protested so strongly against its being carried into effect, that Capt. Heald took advantage of the darkness of the night to break open the barrels of whisky and let the contents run into the river, and at the same time to throw the surplus ammunition and muskets into a well. This operation was witnessed by some prowling savages, who reported it to the others and thus aroused a deadly animosity against the whites. On the 15th, the evacuation of the fort was begun. On the day pre- vious Capt. William Wells, with some fifteen Miamis, reached the fort from Fort Wayne, but it was concluded that it was useless to attempt to defend the place, even with this addition, as the Indians were too nu- merous and the means of opposition too limited. Mr. Kinzie had been warned that the Pottawatomies meant mischief, and that he must not accompany the troops overland, but must put his family on a boat and proceed across the lake where he could join the troops on the other side — provided the troops were allowed to proceed on their march. Mr. Kinzie acted on this advice, and placed his wife and four younger children in the boat, in which there were also the nurse of the children, a clerk of Mr. Kinzie, two servants, the boatmen, and two In- dians who were acting as their protectors. Mr. Kinzie was urged to join the party in the boat, but declined to do so, as he foresaw the storm, and thought he might be of service in warding off some of its effects. The boat started, but had scarcely gotten under way when a messenger from the friendly Indians arrived and told them to remain where they were. They had reached the mouth of the river, and from this point saw much of the conflict which almost immediately followed. Mr. Kinzie and his oldest son accompanied the troops in their march from the fort, the former knowing that he would not be attacked, as the savages were friendly to him, and he hoped to be of some service to the others. The troops filed slowly out of the fort, the band ominously playing the Dead March. Capt. Wells led the way with his Miamis, and knowing that death was almost certain, he had blacked his face in ac- cordance with the custom of the Indians among whom he had been reared. MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 13 The little column proceeded south along the shore of the lake, keep- ing on the sand. On the prairie higher up moved the escort of In- dians, numbering some five hundred warriors. All Avent well until the column had reached a point on the shore of the lake near what is now the foot of Eighteenth Street. Just then Capt. Wells, who had been riding a little in advance with his Miamis, came furiously back, and announced that the Indians were about to attack them. A moment later the Indians commenced firing on the column from the sand hills along the edge of the prairie, and at once the troops formed in line and charged up the bank. At the first discharge, the Miamis fled without firing a shot. Capt. Wells alone disdained to fly, and was speedily shot, scalped, and his heart taken out with the savage idea that his captors might acquire some of his courage by devouring it. Mrs. Helm, the wife of Lieut. Helm, was one of the party marching from the fort, and her account of the massacre has become historical. The troops fought gallantly, forced their way through the Indians, and reached a little elevation on the prairie, where, finding the fighting useless, they sent an interpreter and negotiated a surrender on condi- tion that their lives should be spared, and that they should be allowed to ransom themselves as soon as practicable. The loss of the Indians is stated at about fifteen. The loss of the whites was large, about fifty in all. Of all that left the fort, there re- mained at the surrender twenty-five non-commissioned officers and privates, and eleven Avonien and children. All the wounded prisoners were killed and mutilated. Among those killed were Surgeon Van Voorhis, Ensign Kohan and Capt. Wells. The wounded were Capt. Heald and his wife, and Lieut, and Mrs. Helm. The latter, however, managed to retain her senses and preserve for posterity the only reli- able and connected account of the fight. She was a most gallant woman, the step-daughter of Mr. Kinzie, to whom she was indebted for examples of courage and gallantry that did her essential service. She was attacked by a young Indian who attempted to tomahawk her, but she avoided the blow aimed at her head, and received it on her shoulder. She was just then seized by a friendly Indian in disguise, who bore her to the lake, and, in pretending to attempt to drown her, he saved her life. Mrs. Heald was badly wounded by bullets, and was on the point of being scalped, when she was rescued by a friendly In- dian on guard at the boat of the Kinzie party, her captor foregoing the pleasure of scalping her on condition of the immediate payment of a mule, and ten bottles of whisky at a later date. The latter portion of 14 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. the reward seems to have proved irresistible; the savage released her and she was taken into the boat. Bohan, the ensign, fought to the last and died courageously. Surgeon Van Voorhis was wounded, and pitifully appealed to Mrs. Helm, who was near him, to do something to save him . He died very unwillingly. Mr. Kinzie and his family were cared for by the friendly Indians who saved their lives, but Mr. K. underwent a long and shifting im- prisonment at the hands of the British, and was at last released uncon- ditionally. After his death in Chicago, January, 1828, he was first interred on the shore of the lake near his residence. Later he was reinterred in the burying ground near where the North Side water- works now stand, and again in the cemetery formerly located in the southern portion of what is now Lincoln Park. A few years ago his post-mortem wanderings were terminated by his remains being trans- ferred to Graceland Cemetery. The Indians burned Fort Dearborn, and Chicago had undergone its first great trial. The same year the first territorial legislature of Illinois met, and it is said of them, in "Western Annals," that "they did their work like men devoted to business matters. Not a lawyer nor an attorney is found on the list." Six years later the territory was organized into a state. In 1829 the state, by authority of Congress, inaugurated operations for the building of the Illinois & Michigan Canal, and soon after this the real evolution of Chicago commenced. In 1831 the county of Cook was organized, Chicago being made the county seat, and on Aug. 10, 1833, the town of Chicago came into being. The vote by which the people decided to incorporate themselves was thirteen — twelve for, and one against. There were twenty-eight votes cast at the elec- tion for town officers five days later. Th.3 first public building con- structed after the town was established was a log jail, and the next was an estray pen. T. J. V. Owen, George W. Dole, Madore B. Beaubien, John Miller and E. S. Kimberly were the first trustees. They proceeded to lay out the town of Chicago in modest dimensions, as follows : Begin- ning at the intersection of Jackson and Jefferson Streets, thence north to Cook Street, and through that street to its eastern extension in Wa- bansia, thence on a direct line toward Ohio Street to Kinzie's Addition, thence eastwardly to the lake shore, thence south with the line of the beach to the northern United States pier, thence northwardly along said pier to its termination, thence to the channel of the Chicago Eiver, thence along said channel until it intersects the eastern boundary line MARQUIS 9 HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 15 of the town of Chicago as laid out by the canal commissioners, thence southwardly with said line till it meets Jackson Street, thence west- wardly along the line of Jackson Street until it reaches the point of beginning. In 1832 the total collection of taxes amounted to $357.78, the most of which came from licenses to keep tavern and sell goods. At that period there were noinail routes or post roads in this section, and of course no postoffice in Chicago. The only method of getting mail was to send a half-breed Indian once in two weeks to Mies, in Michi- gan, and he was always instructed to get possession of all the news- papers available, and bring them back to Chicago. The trip was made on foot, and usually occu- pied a week. The promi- nent families here at this time were those of James Kinzie (son of the famous John Kinzie), who lived at Wolf's Point at the junction of the North and South Branches of the river; Elijah "Wentworth, who kept a tav- ern ; William See, Alexander Eobinson, Kobert A. Kinzie, Samuel See, who lived on the north side of the North Branch, nearly opposite Wolf's Point, and who, in company with his brother, John Miller, kept a tavern ; and Mark Beaubien, also a tavern keeper, who lived on the east side of the South Branch just above its junction with the North Branch. There was also an Indian trader named Bourasso, and a family named Boliveu, who lived just south of the fort. There were two or three other families, but the preparation of a directory of Chicago, as it then was, would be a work of but few minutes. There was something of an Indian scare when Black Hawk broke loose from the south in 1832, and at one time there were several hun- dred fugitives in the fort, who fled there for protection against ex- pected raids. It was in this war that Abraham Lincoln gained his Site of Old Fort Deareorn, River Street and Michigan Avenue. 16 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. renown as a soldier, and many other heroes appeared who afterward reaped a generous reward from their grateful country. In the same year George W. Dole inaugurated the slaughtering and packing indus- try, by killing and packing 200 head of cattle and 350 head of hogs. This was but an humble beginning of what has grown to be one of the greatest industries of modern Chicago. Meanwhile Fort Dearborn had been rebuilt, and a garrison occupied it until June, 1833, at which time there were about a dozen families settled about the fort. The site of the old fort is now occupied by a massive five -story business block, within the angle formed by the junction of Eiver Street and Michigan Avenue. This building, which is shown in an accompanying illustration, bears on its north front a marble tablet with the following inscription : THIS BUILDING OCCUPIES THE SITE OF OLD FORT DEARBORN, WHICH EXTENDED A LITTLE ACROSS MICHIGAN AVENUE AND SOME- WHAT INTO THE RIVER AS IT NOW IS. THE .FORT WAS BUILT IN 1803-4, FORMING OUR OUTMOST DEFENSE. BY ORDER OF GEN. HULL IT WAS EVACUATED AUG. 15, 1812, AFTER ITS STORES AND PROVISIONS HAD BEEN DISTRIB- UTED AMONG THE INDIANS. Very soon after, the Indians attacked and massacred about fifty of the troops and a number of citizens, including women and children, and next day burned the fort. In 1816 it was rebuilt, but after the Black Hawk war it went into gradual disuse, and in May, 1837, was abandoned by the army, but was occupied by various government offi- cers till 1857, when it was torn down, excepting a single building, which stood upon the site till the great fire of Oct. 9, 1871. At the suggestion of the Chicago Historical Society this tablet was erected, November, 1880, by W. M. HOYT. Mark Beaubien, the original tavern-keeper of Chicago, but a short time since yielded up a life of far more than average length. He came to Chicago from Michigan in 1826, and bought from John Kinzie a small log house which stood about where the corner of Lake and Market Streets is now located, paying $100 for it. This cabin was transformed into the famous ' ' Sauganash " tavern, and was the humble pioneer of the Grand Pacific, Palmer, Tremont, Sherman, and MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 17 other palatial hotels of Chicago. In later years, in response to an inquiry as to his manner of keeping tavern in the olden time, Mr. Beaubien said : " I had no ped, but when traveler came for lodging, I give him planket to cover himself up on the floor, and tell him to look out, for Ingin steal it. Den when he gits to sleep I take de planket way careful and give it to noder man and tell him same, so I always have peds for all dat want em." He was the father of twenty-six chil- dren, of whom sixteen were by his first, and the rest by his second wife. On the 26th of November, 1833, there occurred an event which was of more importance to the destinies of the coming city than all that had before taken place. This was the establishment of a news- Chicago in 1845. paper, the first enterprise of th.3 kind, and known as The Chicago Democrat. John Calhoun was the daring person who took this initial step, and he is to the journalists of Chicago what Columbus is to modern explorers. The place of publication was at the corner of LaSalle and South Water Streets. The first number urged strongly the beginning and completion of the Illinois & Michigan Canal, in order to fa3ilitate intercourse between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River, and added that, ''with even the present limited system of navi- gation, goods have been transported from New York to St. Louis in the short space of twenty-three days." The issue of April 16, 1834, commenced a marine record, announcing the arrival of one schooner from St. Joseph, and the departure of two others. Wolf and bear hunting with in the corporate limits of the town was 2 18 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. one of the amusements that were sometimes resorted to both for pas- time and for the protection of the pigs, sheep, fowls, etc. In October, 1835, a bear was treed in the woods near what is now the corner of Market and Jackson Streets, and many wolves were killed the succeed- ing winter in the same locality. During the summer season of 1834, Chicago was visited once a week by a steamboat from Lake Erie, and the same year the schooner Illinois entered Chicago Biver, being the first vessel that performed this feat. Before, owing to a bar at the mouth of the river, vessels had to unload outside and handle their cargoes with lighters, but a freshet came, and opened a channel for the admission of this vessel. Considering the "bridge nuisance" of Old Saloon Building. to-day, there are many who will regret that a vessel was ever found to make the initial passage. Chicago now had several taverns, a newspaper, a packing establish- ment, a ferry or two, and a marine list. In religious progress it was not behind. The Jesuits had preached to the Indians in the seven- teenth century ; and in 1833 no less than four of the principal denomi- nations were represented, viz : Catholic, Methodist, Presbyterian and Baptist. The year 1836 was a notable one in the history of Chicago. On the 18th of May of that year the first ship built here was launched amidst the rejoicing of the entire population of the village. July 4th of that year was not only the national anniversary, but was the day on MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 19 which the first sod was turned in the work of excavating the Illinois & Michigan Canal. Such a thing as a railway connection with Chi- cago was not dreamed of at that time, and the future of the city was supposed to depend on the water connection between the lake and the Mississippi Kiver. This year was also the one in which Chicago put off her rural garments, and modestly but hopefully arrayed herself in the garb of a young city. The actual and legal incorporation of the city was not effected until a year later — March 4, 1837, — but in 1836 the necessary steps were taken by the people, and at that date, de facto if not de jure, the city of Chicago became a fixed fact. At the first city election William B. Ogden, the Democratic candidate, was elected mayor, his opponent, John H. Kinzie, being the Whig repre- sentative. The entire vote was 706, of which Mr. Ogden received 469, and Mr. Kinzie 237. The map of that year gives the boundaries of Chicago as follows : On the south by Twenty-second Street, on the west by Wood Street, on the north by North Avenue and on the east by the lake. This bound- ary included the grounds of the fort and some land along the lake shore extending a half mile north of North Avenue, which were reserved. The first meetings of the municipal authorities were held in what was called the Saloon Building, on the southeast corner of Lake and Clark Streets. Five years later the meetings were held in a private building on the corner of LaSalle and Bandolph Streets. The first city hall was constructed in Market Building, a structure erected by the city, and which stood in the center of State Street, with its south front on a line with Kandolph, and extending north toward Lake. The lower floor was a market, and the upper floor was arranged for the uses of the municipality. In 1851 a joint court-house was built by the county and city on Court-House Square, the site of the present city and county buildings, and was used until it was destroyed by the great fire of 1871. Chicago grew rapidly after its incorporation as a city, and it was believed by those who had land to sell that in the future it would reach a population of not less than one hundred thousand souls. The year of its incorporation, however, it encountered its first serious obstacle in the financial panic of that and the following year. The demand for real estate fell off very heavily, as may be gathered from the sales of the canal company, which in 1835 w r ere over three hundred and sev- enty thousand acres ; the next year over two hundred and two thou- 20 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. sand, and in 1837 less than sixteen thousand acres. There was an improvement the succeeding year, when the sales mounted up to one hundred and sixty thousand. Many people left the city during the two years referred to, under the conviction that Chicago's day of prosperity was passed, and that it was doomed to extinction as a city. Statistics show that from 1832 to 1853 real estate increased in value at a rate which is almost beyond belief. Lots 3 and 4 in block 31, for instance, were worth $102 in 1832, and sold for $108,000 in 1853. Several lots held by Beaubien and the Kinzies at $346 in 1832, were sold in 1853 at $540,000. The rise in general, during this period, was scarcely less on an average than that exhibited in the instances cited. The next serious set-back Chicago had after the panic of 1837-38 was the flood of 1849, the consequences of which were serious. The inundation occurred in March and was produced by the overflow of the Desplaines River. The South Branch of the Chicago Eiver was filled with ice, which was soon undermined by the flood from the Desplaines. There were many vessels in the river, and these were crushed in the advancing gorge of ice. The pushing mass included everything in its march, and this added to its deadly character. Some forty vessels were utterly destroyed, and the only bridge in the city was annihilated. The damage to the shipping, wharves and city generally was estimated at considerably over a hundred thousand dollars. In 1850 Chicago had forty-two miles of railway on the Galena line, which was commenced in 1847. Two years later it was connected with the east by the Michigan Southern Railway, and from that time to the present its progress as a railway center has been without a par- allel in modern civilization. An event of considerable importance took place in 1855, when Dr. Levi D. Boone was mayor, having been elected on the Know Nothing ticket. One of his first official acts was to recommend to the common council that the license for saloons be raised from $50 per annum to $300, and that no license be issued for more than three months. This excited great opposition among the liquor sellers and their friends, who banded together to resist the movement. The attempt to collect the new license, and to enforce the Sunday law which had long been a dead letter, led to great excitement, and during the pendency of a trial of one of the offenders, a great crowd gathered on the corner of Ran- dolph and Clark Streets, filling both thoroughfares and totally ob- structing travel. In the afternoon the police and the mob came into 22 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. violent contact. There was a good deal of shooting on both sides, and although the official reports show but one man killed on the side of the rioters, it is believed that several were killed and carried off by their friends, or else died later from wounds received in the melee. A couple of pieces of artillery were brought out and placed in position for service, but the police handled the mob, and dispersed it without great difficulty. The greatest event in the history of Chicago was the Great Fire, as it is termed, which broke out on the evening of Oct. 8, 1871. Chicago was at that time a city of wood. For a long time prior to the evening referred to there had been blowing a hot wind from the southwest, which had dried everything to the inflammability of tinder, and it was upon a mass of sun and wind dried wooden structures that the fire began its work. It is sup- posed to have originated from the accidental upset- ting of a kerosene lamp in a cow-barn on DeKoven Street, near the corner of Jefferson, on the west side of the river. This region was composed largely of shanties, and the fire spread very rapidly, soon crossing the river to the South Side, and fastening on that portion of the city which contained nearly all the leading business houses, and which was built up very largely with stone and brick. But it seemed to enkindle as if it were tinder. Some buildings were blown up with gunpowder, which, in connection with the strong southwest gale, pre- vented the extension of the flames to the south. The fire swept on Monday steadily to the north, including everything from the lake to the South Branch, and then crossed to the North Side, and, taking in everything from the lake to the North Branch, it burned northward for a distance of three miles, where it died out at the city limits, when there was nothing more to burn. In the midst of this broad area of devastation, on the north side of Washington Square, between Clark Street and Dearborn Avenue, the well-known Ogden House stands amid trees of the ancient forest and surrounded by extensive grounds, the solitary relic of that section of the city before the fiery flood. First House Erected in the Burnt District. MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 23 The total area of the land burned over was twenty-one hundred acres. Nearly twenty thousand buildings were consumed; one hun- dred thousand people were rendered homeless ; two hundred lives were lost, and the grand total of values destroyed is e itimated at two hun- dred millions of dollars. Of this vast sum nearly one -half was covered by insurance, but under the tremendous losses many of the insurance companies were forced to the wall, and went into liquidation, and the victims of the conflagration recovered only about forty-four millions, or less than one-half of their insurance, and only about one-fifth of their aggregate loss. Among the buildings which were burned were the court-house, custom-house and postoffice, chamber of commerce, three railway depots, nine daily newspaper offices, thirty-two hotels, ten theaters and halls, eight public schools and some branch school buildings, forty-one churches, five elevators, and all the national banks. If the Great Fire was an event without parallel in its dimensions and the magnitude of its dire results, the charity which followed it was equally unrivaled in its extent. Scarcely were the flames under way, and the extent of the destruction foreseen, when efforts for relief seemed to begin spontaneously wherever the telegraph carried the news. All the civilized world appeared to instantly appreciate the calamity. Food, clothing, supplies of every kind, money, messages of affection, sympathy, etc., began pouring in at once in a stream that appeared endless and bottomless. In all, the amount contributed reached over seven millions of dollars ! Nothing so God-like in its grandeur as a practical illustration of human sympathy with misfort- une was ever before or since known in the history of mankind. It was believed by many that the fire had forever blotted out Chi- cago from the list of great American cities, but the spirit of her people was undaunted by calamity, and, encouraged by the generous sympathy and help from all quarters, they set to work at once to repair their al- most ruined fortunes, merchants and manufacturers resuming business in private dwellings, or in temporary shanties put up on the sites of their burned houses, as soon as the debris could be cleared away. Kebuild- ing was at once commenced, and, within a year after the fire, more than $40,000,000 were expended in improvements. The city came up from its ruins far more palatial, splendid, strong and imperishable than before. In one sense the fire was a benefit. Its consequence was a class of structures far better, in every essential respect, than before the conflagration. Fire-proof buildings became the rule, the limits of 24 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. wood were carefully restricted, and the value of the reconstructed por- tion immeasurably exceeded that of the city which had been destroyed. The commerce of the city increased by millions of dollars immediately after the fire, and, in fact, a magnificent new city grew up on the ruins of the old, and was, in all respects, iucomparably the superior of the one that had been devoured by the flames. In 1857 the grades of the city were at least eight feet below their present level. At that time the city was for many months of the year simply a huge mud hole. It was suggested by some engineering genius that the grades be raised. This met with most violent opposition, but the intent was persevered in, and finally carried into practice. It was contended that it would be impossible to procure the materials for filling, but the end justified the effort, and the streets now up to grade are dry and easily drained ; a system of practical sewerage has taken the place of the drainage ditches and gutters of early Chicago, and in that respect the city stands next to London and Paris. By the process of elevating the grades many buildings were left with their first stories almost hidden by the raised sidewalks and curbing. In some cases the stories thus affected were transformed into basements, and additional stories added above. In other instances the buildings were torn down, but where they were sufficiently valuable to justify the labor and ex- pense, they were raised to the height required, and new foundations built. Entire brick blocks have been thus raised, and even moved laterally, without suffering the least injury. Since the fire building operations have been officially supervised, and a high degree of excellence and safety has been reached. The area within which the erection of wooden buildings is forbidden reaches well away in every direction from the business centers, and thus renders impossible any such devastating fire as that of 1871. Not only is the use of wood for walls no longer tolerated, but there has grown up a rivalry among citizens for the construction of fire- proof buildings. Stone and brick are universally employed in walls, but wood, in a great many instances, scarcely enters at all into the composition of the best structures. The panic of 1873 affected Chicago very seriously, although the ultimate result was that but little injury was done to legitimate inter- ests. The failures were mainly among real estate speculators. At the beginning of the panic real estate, especially of the unimproved kind, was so high as to be substantially " out of sight." Prices of improved real estate are to-day well up, but in many instances they have not yet MARQUIS' BAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 25 reached the altitude which they attained in 1873, nearly a dozen years ago. Some of the results of the panic were beneficial. Improvement was substituted for wild speculation, and residences and business blocks were built on lands that before were unoccupied and held for a rise in prices. July 14, 1874, another fire broke out in the heart of the city, and swept over eighteen blocks, consuming 600 houses, and leaving black- ness and ruin in its path. Fortunately the area ravaged by the destruct- ive element was occupied mainly by wooden structures, and the loss was light compared with that of the previous conflagration, aggregating only about $4,000,000. The splendid palaces of trade that had been reared on the ruins of 1871 were nearly all spared in this second visitation. Despite the flat surface on which it stands, Chicago is one of the healthiest of the large cities of the country. Its highest death rate of late years was 20.29 per 1,000 of the population in 1875, and its lowest 15.70 in 1878. Compared with the mortality of many other cities, this is remarkable. In New York the rate per thousand per annum averages very closely on 30 ; in Boston from 21 to 25 ; in Philadelphia from 20 to 26 ; and in many of the great European cities from 25 to 45 per thousand. The winds from the southwest and those from the lake sweep alternately over the city, and constantly purify the atmosphere. The purity of the water, which is brought from a point two miles out in the lake, is also a potent factor i:i the reduction of the rate of mortality, and the sewerage system, which is much better than that in average use, is not without its effect in the same direction. The cholera made a visit to Chicago in 1866, but unlike its predecessor in 1852, it found its ravages checked by preventive sani- tation. At present the sanitary condition of the city is such that epi- demics of any kind are not regarded as among the probabilities. The great labor riots of 1877, which originated in Pittsburg, ex- tended to all important cities in the country, the agitation here lasting three or four days. The militia were called out, but their services were not required, except as guards of certain private property and public buildings that were threatened, the local police being equal to all the demands of the occasion. The number of killed and wounded was less than a score. Considering its extent and the heterogeneous character of its population, Chicago is one of the most orderly of modern cities. On account of its lake breezes, enormous railway facilities and nu- 26 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. merous and unequaled hotels, Chicago has long been a favorite place for summer conventions. For this purpose it possesses a special advan- tage in having, in the main hall of the exposition building, the largest place of assembly in the country, if not in the world. The convention which nominated Lincoln in 1860 met in Chicago, as did the national Democratic Convention of 1864, which nominated McClellan. Gar- field was nominated here in 1880. Blaine was nominated in the Ke- publican Convention held in Exposition Hall in June, 1884, and two weeks later Cleveland was nominated by the national Democratic Convention held in the same place. Many of the denominational conventions have made the city their place of meeting ; and in the case of no national assemblage, political, religious, social or otherwise, has there ever been found any difficulty in caring for all who came, irrespective of numbers, and without inconvenience to other transient visitors, either as to hall or private entertainment. The marvelous growth of Chicago in population, and the equally rapid expansion of the business interests of the city, have attracted universal attention and been the theme of admiring comment on the lips of all the world. Rising from seventy inhabitants in 1830 to 3,820 in 1836, and over 4,000 in 1837, when the town was organized as a city, the first three years of its existence in that more dignified capacity do not seem to have added much to its numbers, the census of 1840 showing only 4,853 inhabitants. From this time on the growth was rapid, the population increasing seven-fold in the next ten years, and numbering 29,963 in 1850. In 1860 it was 112,172 ; 298.977 in 1870 ; 503,185 in 1880, and in 1884 it was estimated on a fair basis of calculation at 650,000, of which 50,000 represents the increase dur- ing the previous years. The material wealth of the city has kept pace with the population. Starting with a taxable valuation in 1837 of $236,842, which fell off in consequence of a panic to something over $94,000 in 1839-40. and made an astounding jump from $151,342 in 1842 to $1,441,314 in 1843, again doubling itself the succeeding year, the increase has since been rapid and steady. The total valuation was $7,220,249 in 1850; $37,053,512 in 1860, and $275,986,550 in 1870. In Oc- tober, 1871, the great fire consumed $200,000,000 of property, yet notwithstanding this enormous loss the taxable valuation in May, 1872, only a few months after the fire, was $284,197,430, and it rose in the next two years to $303,705,140. Then the legislature passed a law transferring the duty of assessing and levying taxes to the county MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 27 authorities, their valuations being subject to revision by the State Board of Equalization. The result was a contest between the counties in the reduction of their tax lists, and the total valuation, in Chicago, in 1875, was cut down to only $173,704,246, or something over one- half that of the preceding year. In 1880 the total taxable valuation was only $117,133,643, or less than one-half that of the year after the losses of 1871, although the actual values had been multiplied by im- provements. In 1883 the figures were $133,230,504. The revenues of the city were further restricted in 1879 by a law prohibiting the levy for municipal purposes from being raised above two per cent, on the valuation. The tax-rate for all purposes is $3.41 on the $100, but as that, figure is considerably less than two per cent on the actual value of property, one result of the present system is to give Chicago, which really enjoys a very light taxation compared with other cities, a most undesirable advertisement as a heavily tax-burdened city. The bonded indebtedness is $12,751,500, having undergone a gradual reduction from $14,103,000 in 1871, when it reached the highest point ever attained. The number of buildings erected in 1883 was 4,086, and their esti- mated cost was $22,162,610. The building operations the current year promise to be of increased magnitude and interest. All the great industrial, commercial and financial lines of enterprise exhibit a growth proportionate to the remarkable increase of the pop- ulation, until, as has been well said, the people themselves look with wonder on the magnitude of the various interests that have grown up under their efforts. Among the most extensive lines of business are the handling and manufacture of food products, in all branches of which there is an immense traffic. The receipts of cattle for the year 1882- 83 were 1,878,944, and the shipments 966.758. The receipts of hogs for the same year were 5,697,163, and the shipments 1,363,759. The number of cattle packed was 697,033, and the number of hogs 4,222,780. The total receipts of flour and grain, the former being represented by its equivalent in wheat, amounted to 164,924,732 bushels. The receipts of lumber were 3,587,634,000 feet, and of shingles 2,288,949,000. From the above figures it will be seen that Chicago is the greatest market in the world for lumber and shingles, grain, and hogs and cattle, besides being the greatest packing center for the latter products. In manufactures the demands of the trade with tributary regions have caused a constant addition to the list of products and a steady 28 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. increase of facilities, until Chicago has become one of the leading manufacturing cities of the country. The United States census of 1880 makes the following exhibit of the industrial interests of the city: Number of establishments, 3,519; capital invested, $68,836,- 885; hands employed, 62,431 men, 12,185 women, 4,798 children ; annual wages, $34,653,462; value of materials used, $179,209,610; value of products, $349,022,948. The capital invested in slaughter- ing and meat packing is stated at nearly eight and one -half millions of dollars ; in clothing, nearly six and one-half millions ; in foundry and machine shop products, nearly four and one-half millions ; in iron and steel production, nearly four millions ; in brewing, over three and one- fourth millions ; in agricultural implements, over three millions ; in printing and publishing, nearly three millions ; in furniture, nearly two and one -half millions ; tanning, nearly two millions ; carriages and wagons, over one and one-fourth millions ; soap and candles, over one and one- fourth millions ; sash, doors and blinds, nearly one and one-fourth millions ; distilling, over one million. These statistics are, of course, only approximate, and for obvious reasons rather under- state the facts ; but since the date to which they relate, the interests they represent have grown rapidly, facilities being largely increased in all branches, and operations being correspondingly expanded so that it would be quite within the mark to add at least 50 per cent to the figures as given. '©he ^horoiujhfareg. THE STREETS, AVENUES, BRIDGES, TUNNELS, SEWERS AND STREET RAILROADS. THE facilities provided by public and private enterprise for the con- venience of intermnral transit compare favorably with those of other great cities. The Streets and Avenues of Chicago originated in a road run- ning from the town in a southwesterly direction, and branching after a short distance into two roads, one known in those days as the " Trail to the East," and the other as " Hubbard's Trail to Danville," •or, farther out on the prairie, the " Koad to Widow Brown's." The plank-road was subsequently a feature in the history of the city. The first built was in 1848, and was known as the Southwest- ern ; then came the Northwestern ; next the Western ; after which were the Southern, the Blue Island, and the Lake Shore. All of these were not only regarded as enterprises of great magnitude at the time, but were of material benefit in assisting the development of the city. It was believed by many at the time of their construction, and so urged in at least one of the public prints, that plank roads were of far more value to the city than railways. Indeed, there were those who urged that railways be kept out of the city, and the conveyance of passengers and the transportation of produce and goods be limited to plank roads. One writer says that on the plank roads, passengers are conveyed at the rate of ten miles an hour, which is as fast as they are taken on the Michigan Central Railway, and with ten times the safety. It was urged by this class of reasoners that the railways would take away all the profits of transportation, while, if the work were done by teams, the money would come to Chicago. Originally the streets were simply mud roads, and during portions of the year were next to impassable, the worst places being planked when absolutely necessary. There was not much attempt at the con- struction of improved roadways until about 1864, at which time the The raising of the grade of the streets has been noted in the opening chap- ter, on page 24. 30 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. " Nicholson " was laid down on Lake Street. From that time wooden pavement had a run, and in fact is yet in use on many of the principal streets. Within the past two or three years, in the business portion of the city, granite has been largely used. Macadam is used on the bou- levards, and on some of the streets, notably Ashland Avenue and Jackson Street ; the material, outside of the business portions, being largely wood. The wood now in use is mainly cedar blocks, which, with the improved method of laying them, are giving very satisfactory results. Asphalt has been used to some extent, but has not given entire satisfaction, and seems likely to be wholly abandoned. When completed, the paving system of Chicago, as now in use, will render it one of the best paved cities in the world. The entire length of the streets of the city is 650 miles. The length of the paved streets is about 200 miles. The names of the principal streets generally indicate their origin. Many of them are named for the Presidents and others who were prominent in the nation or state ; the names of people more or less conspicuously connected with the history of the city, of the surround- ing states, and other equally obvious sources, contributed to the no- menclature. The names of the Presidents and leading statesmen of the country will be readily recognized. Clark Street was christened in honor of Gen. George Eogers Clark, of Kentucky, who acquired mili- tary fame in the early contests with the French and Indians. Fifth Avenue was originally named in honor of Capt. Wells, who was one of the victims of the Indian massacre in 1812, and that portion of the street which lies in the North Division still retains the name. Ann Street was named after a daughter of the venerable Philo Carpenter ; Augusta after another daughter ; and so on of many other names of women. In this respect Chicago has shown no lack of gallantry. The city is laid out in rectangular lines, with the exception of several streets which were constructed on the routes of the old plank roads, and which consequently radiate to the northwest and southwest. The principal business Streets of the city lie on the South Side, where are congregated within a space of about ten blocks square nearly all the wholesale business of the city, and a large proportion of the retail trade. This area contains the palatial business houses, hotels and public buildings whose magnitude and architectural beauty have added so largely to the fame of Chicago. South Water Street, which lies next to and parallel with the main river, is largely devoted to the produce commission business. It is always almost impassable from the Michigan Avenue, Corner Jackson Street — Pullman Building. 32 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. number of trucks, vans and carts which throng it and the boxes of produce which encumber its sidewalks. Here are brought and dis- tributed daily the various products of the market garden, orchard, . field and stream. State Street is the great shopping street of the city, and on any fair afternoon it can be seen thronged with pedestrians and carriages, and presenting a scene of gayety, wealth and beauty such as is paralleled only on Eegent Street, London, or some of the more notable boule- vards in Paris. It was originally much narroAver and was widened to its present handsome and attractive proportions by moving the houses back along a stretch of three miles. Michigan Avenue, Wabash Avenue and State Street, near the river, are all given up to wholesale houses. Michigan Avenue, a few blocks from the river, loses its identity in Michigan Avenue Boulevard (see chapter on "Parks and Boule- vards"), the entire extension of which is a favorite residence street, as are also Prairie, Calumet, Indiana and other avenues, containing residences which are palaces in their cost and architectural design and finish. State Street is traversed by the cable line of cars as far south as Thirty-ninth Street. Twenty-second Street, running east and west, and more than two miles from the City Hall, is for a dozen blocks nearest the lake a busy, business thoroughfare. It has a bank and many pretentious retail stores. Archer Avenue, branching from State Street, between Nineteenth and Twentieth Streets, takes a southwest- erly direction, crosses a branch of the Chicago Kiver,and extends be- yond the city limits. It has horse cars, and resembles in the character of its buildings, shops, people, etc., Blue Island and Milwaukee Ave- nues, on the West Side. Wabash Avenue is traversed by a cable line of cars from Madison Street south to Twenty-second Street. , At Twenty-second Street the cable car line runs east to Cottage Grove Avenue, which it follows in its southeasterly direction parallel with, and about two squares west of the lake shore, to the junction of Drexel and Oakwood Boulevards, four and a half miles from the City Hall. Cottage Grove Avenue is devoted principally to business purposes. Madison Street is the great east and west thoroughfare of Chicago. The eastern portion, or East Madison Street, in the South Division, is splendidly paved, and is flanked on either side with wholesale and retail establishments. West Madison Street is the principal retail street of the West Side. The street extends westward from the lake, passing in its course Gar- field Park and the Chicago Driving Park, and is finally lost in an unim- MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 33 proved roadway in the open prairie, at a distance of over five miles. It is traversed by horse cars its total improved length. Kandolph and Lake are the other leading parallel business streets of the West Division. Both have street car lines. Ogden Avenne, beginning in Union Park, takes a south westerly direction, curving westwardly in its course, passes Douglas Park, and ends at Twenty-second Street, near the city limits. It long retained the. appearance of a country road, being till recently unimproved and sparsely settled. A cedar pavement has just been put down, and stores and shops are rapidly appearing all along its line, and it is fast assuming a metropolitan air. It has horse cars, and in time will be a busy business thoroughfare. The intervening streets between the river and Halsted Street are largely occupied by manufactories. In this section are found nearly all the great machinery, steam-engine, boiler and kindred iron-work- ing concarns. Halsted Street is reached some five squares west of the Madison Street crossing of the river, and is the leading north and south thoroughfare of the West Side. It extends, in an almost straight Jine, entirely across the city. Its southern half is traversed by street cars direct to and from the Union Stock Yards, and is given up almost wholly to retail trade, by Irish, G-erman and other foreign elements. The buildings after a few squares are principally wooden structures that escaped the great fire. They present a quaint and dingy appear- ance. Blue Island Avenue branches from Halsted Street, at the latter's junction with West Harrison Street, in a southwesterly direc- tion to the great lumber district. The buildings with which it is densely lined are generally the poorest class of wooden structures in the city. The dingy-looking shops are kept by Irish and Germans of the lower classes, with here aud there a Swede or Norwegian. Milwaukee Avenue is distinctly the German business thoroughfare. It is lined with retail shops of every description, markets, saloons, etc. Many of the buildings are wooden ante-fire structures, and are as de- cidedly foreign in appearance as are their occupants. Beginning at the river and Lake Street, Milwaukee Avenue extends in a northwest- erly direction away beyond the city limits, where it is merged in a country road in the open prairie. Washington Boulevard is the leading residence street of the West Side. It belongs to the great boulevard system of the city, and has been referred to in the chapter on "Parks and Boulevards." West Monroe, Adams and Jackson, parallel with and south of Madison Street, are also popular residence streets, save a few squares occupied 3 34 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. by business and manufacturing establishments near the river. They are flanked by fine dwellings, churches, and lines of shade trees, inter- spersed here and there with little gems of parks of the brightest description. Ashland Avenue, running north and south, is splendidly paved and contains some of the handsomest houses on the West Side. On the North Side, Clark Street is the leading business street, being occupied mainly by the smaller retail stores. It extends northward beyond Lincoln Park, and is a great thoroughfare. The streets lying near and parallel with the river are largely used by manufacturing establishments, and commission houses engaged in handling hides, leather, wool, etc. The preferred residence streets are LaSalle and Dearborn Avenues, Rush, State and Pine Streets, some of the resi- dences being very elegant and artistic in architectural and other orna- mentation. Chicago Avenue, from North Clark Street west to the river ; Division Street, from North Clark to Clybourne Avenue ; Clybourne Ave- nue, which here has its beginning and extends in a northwesterly direction to the city limits ; and Larrabee Street, running north and south, are all business thoroughfares. They traverse a section of the city inhabited almost wholly by a foreign population — Scandinavian, German, etc. The residences on the streets referred to as residence streets are generally built of superior materials. Red pressed brick is much used, but stone is the favorite. Of the latter there are many kinds, all vary- ing in color, so that there is nowhere any sameness in the character of the coloring. There is equal diversity in the forms of the houses, there being but very little block building, each house, as a rule, being wholly independent in material, size, form and decoration. Joliet limestone, which is milky white at first, and after exposure becomes a rich, soft cream -color, is in large demand. The deep, rich brown of a sandstone from Lake Superior is also much used ; there is also the close-grained dark gray of the Buena Vista quarries, and a dozen other kinds of material, including the cheerful cream-colored pressed brick of Milwaukee, all of which afford infinite variety of pleasing effects. The churches are generally constructed of rough-dressed limestone of a dark-grey, which; is a color eminently in harmony with their purpose. The winds blowing alternately from the lake and from the land are sufficient to keep the city free from smoke, with the result that these richly-colored building materials are rarely obscured by stains, and the streets present always the striking effects flowing from the warm, fcright, sympathetic colors. MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 35 The Bridges of Chicago are interesting, and many of them are important, features of its system of highways. Under the latter head must be classed the bridges over the Chicago River and its branches. These bridges, thirty-six. in number, are built and owned by the city, being regarded equally with the streets as a public work, furnishing necessary convenience of transit between the divisions. It has been jocularly said that the first bridge was a ferry, and it must be acknowl- edged that a number of the early devices to facilitate passage over the stream were a sort of cross between a ferry boat and a bridge. The first structure of this kind was a log float stretched across the river after the manner of a pontoon bridge, from which the idea was probably derived. Other bridges of the kind followed, and in some of them an improve- ment was introduced, the bridge being hinged on a pivot at one end, and a rope attached to the opposite end was used by means of a capstan and levers, to pull the float around, out of the way of passing vessels. A further improvement on these clumsy efforts at a drawbridge was made in tlie bridge erected over the river at the Dearborn Street cross- ing in 1834. This was the first drawbridge built in Chicago. The cen- ter span was made in two sections, hinged at the piers and meeting like an arch over the middle passage. The bridge was drawn by breaking the arch upward with a combination of ropes and pulleys, which lifted the meeting ends of the sections and made a space between them through which vessels passed. This structure so utterly failed to meet popular expectations that it was unanimously voted a nuisance, and when its removal was ordered, the citizens gathered and carried the order into effect by chopping the bridge down with axes. It was diffi- cult to plan a structure that would meet the demand for convenient transit on the one hand, and for unobstructed navigation of the river on the other and, indeed, the satisfactory solution of that problem has not yet been practically accomplished. A nearer approach to it than was reached in any previous effort, was made in the construction of the first iron bridge in Chicago, at Rush Street, in 1856 ; but a number of cattle that happened to be on it when it was turned to allow a vessel to pass, crowded to one end or side and overturned it. The jealousies between the divisions, which had greatly interfered with the progress of these important public improvements, and the slow process of pri- vate subscription for their erection, were rapidly giving way to the growing needs of the situation, and in 1857 the city took hold of the matter and erected a bridge over the South Branch at Madison Street. This was the first bridge built, entirely at the expense of the munici- 36 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. pality, and it was the inauguration of a municipal policy that has re- sulted in the construction of a valuable iron bridge, swinging on a central pier, at every alternate street reaching the river or either of its branches, in the business portion of the city. The latest and best of these structures is the new double roadway bridge at Bush Street— the only one of the kind in the city, and the largest swing bridge in the world. It is operated by steam and lighted by electricity, and was built at a cost of $130,000. At its formal opening, August 7, 1884, it bore a test weight of about 375 tons. For a time the present bridge system was comparatively satisfactory, but the city has outgrown it, and there is now a strong and growing demand for some plan by which transit can be effected without being subject to the frequent annoying delays caused by the necessity of opening the bridges for vessels, and the accidents that result from that operation. The Tunnels under Chicago Biver, two in number, one at LaSalle Street, connecting the South Side with the North Side, and the other at Washington Street, connecting the West Side with the South Side, ^*ere con- structed with the view of supplying more convenient passage than the bridges af- forded. The Washing- ton Street Tunnel was the first one construct- ed, and was finished and formally opened to the public Jan. 1, 1869, at a cost of $512,707.57. TheLa Salle Street Tunnel was completed and opened July 1, 1871, at a total cost of $566,276.48. It has some improvements in arrange- ment and construction suggested by experience with the Washington Street passage. The total length of the latter is 1,608 feet, and of LaSalle Street Tunnel. MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 37 the LaSalle Street Tunnel 1,854 Jeet. Eacli has a double driveway and a separate foot-way on one side, which is reached by stairs. The tunnels are wide, lofty, well lighted and ventilated, and each is fairly drained by means of a sub-tunnel five feet in diameter, which is con- nected with a steam pump at one end. The Sewerage System of Chicago is extensive, well arranged and efficient, despite the engineering difficulties in securing satisfactory drainage of a level area so slightly elevated above the waters of the river and lake. Brick or pipe is used for sewers, according to the character of drainage required. The total length of sewers of both kinds is about 400 miles, laid at a total cost of nearly six and a quarter millions of dollars, or an average of $15,493.58 per mile. They are kept clean and in repair at an average annual cost of $107.65 per mile. There are about 13,000 catch-basins and 15,000 man-hole chambers connected with the system. During the' year 1883 about fourteen and a quarter miles of sewers were laid, and 835 catch-basins and 497 man-hole chambers constructed, at a total cost of $232,084.- 33. The advantages of this important agent of cleanliness and sani- tation are very evenly distributed among the three divisions of the city, according to their needs. The Street Railways of Chicago all start from the business cen- ter of the city, and radiate to all sections promising traffic sufficient to maintain the lines in operation, thus giving the greatest public accom- modation consistent with a reasonable care for the capital invested in such enterprises. The fare is universally five cents. The number of cars and the time-tables are arranged with due regard for public con- venience. The first street railway in the city was laid along State Street, and was commenced in the fall of 1858. From that beginning the service grew rapidly to its present proportions. The railways are operated by three companies, representing three systems, which cor- respond with the divisions of the city. The oldest of these com- panies is. The Chicago City Railway Company whose lines constitute the railway system of the South Side. This company has within the past two years largely substituted the cable plan of traction in the place of horses, and although there have been some difficulties and dangers attending its use, they have been largely overcome, and the success of the plan may be considered established. These lines alone now have an aggregate length of twenty miles, employ 100 ''grip-cars," which do the work of 2,500 horses, and run an average of nine miles per 38 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. hour, conveying 100,000 passengers daily. The total number of miles^ of track is seventy-seven ; number of cars, 400 ; average distance traversed daily, 25,000 miles ; average number of passengers carried daily, 120,000 ; number of horses, 1,200. The powerful engines which operate the cable system are located at the corner of State and Twenty-first Streets. The North Chicago City Railway Company operates the North Side system of street railways. It was organized in 1859, and commenced running its cars on North Clark Street and Chicago Avenue in August, 1859. The capital stock of the company is $500,000 ; number of mile3 of track, thirty-four ; total number of cars owned, 251 ; num- ber of horses, 1,530; average distance traversed daily, 9,600 miles; average number of passengers carried daily, 60,000. The Chicago "West Division Railway Company was incorpo- rated in 1863, succeeding to the franchises held by the Chicago City Railway Company on the West Side, and now operates the lines in that division. The capital stock of the company is $1,250,- 000 ; number of miles of track, ninety-seven ; total number of cars owned, 634 ; number of horses, 3,375 ; average distance traversed daily, 21,620 miles. THE RAILROADS, LAKE MICHIGAN, CHICAGO RIVER, AND THE CANAL. THE transportation facilities of Chicago are the most complete and extensive of any inland city in the world. The Railroads are so intimately connected with the growth of the city that the history of one is practically the chronicle of the other-. When Chicago first forged her way into the notice of the world, and began to foreshadow her present majesty, the railroad was a new thing, scarcely emerged from the shadows of uncertain experiment. Faith in it was far from general, and the cost of construction, equip- ment and operation was appalling to a new country rich only in the gifts of nature and in indomitable energy. Moreover, there was deep- seated prejudice in favor of water ways. In all the world there were not as many miles of railroad as Illinois now boasts. But destiny had marked out for the city a meteor course to empire, and she was early alive to the necessity for avenues for her commerce. Vast realms rich in all the treasures of nature lay at her feet, inviting conquest and inspir- ing enterprise. With the necessity came the men whose energy laid the basis for that magnificent system of iron roadways to which is chiefly due the marvelous development of the west, and the northwest, and the greatness of the city. Before the close of the third decade of the present century, the practical advantages of railroads had begun to excite discussion in the city, and in January, 1831, a commission was appointed to investigate the relative value of a canal and railroad between the Chicago and Des Plaines Rivers. A multiplicity of schemes sprung up over the state, more or less connected with Chicago. The question of a road to be operated in conjunction with the Illinois & Michigan Canal was agitated, and a bill to charter such a road, under the title of the Illinois Central Railroad, was introduced into the state senate by Lieut- Gov. Jenkins, in 1832, but died in its incipiency. Many other enterprises were projected, but lay dormant. In 1835 a public letter from Sidney Breese, then circuit judge and afterward United States senator, revived the agitation of the Illinois Central 40 MARQUIS" HAtfD-BOOK OF CHICAGO. scheme. Meanwhile the city was pushing her way to the south and the Avest, on pap^r at least. The first road chartered out of Chicago was the Galena & Chicago Union, now a part of the Northwestern sys- tem. It was incorporated Jan. 16, 1837, with an authorized capi- tal of $100,000, and permission to increase the same to $1,000,000, and the charter contemplated propulsion "by steam or animal power." Three years were allowed in which to begin work. The survey was begun in 1837, but the financial panic of that year caused the collapse of the enterprise, and it was not resumed until ten years later. By an act of the state legislature, Feb. 27, 1837, the state undertook the construction of 1,340 miles of railroad and the Illinois & Michigan Canal. Work was begun at once in many quarters, but the magnitude of the undertaking crushed it, and gave a blow which retarded prog- ress in that direction for several years. In 1847 the work of con- structing the Galena road was begun. On the 10th of October the first engine ever run out of Chicago, named the "Pioneer," arrived via brig " Buffalo," and was put to work on the part of the road then com- plete. This engine is still in existence. Nov. 20, 1848, the first wheat ever brought to the city by rail was received. In 1852 this road was completed to Elgin, forty-two miles, being laid with strap rails. The Illinois Central was chartered Jan. 18, 1836, but the enterprise col- lapsed, and was not revived till 1850, when the present charter was granted. The incipient stages of railroad building were now past. Capital, heretofore cautious to timidity, eagerly sought investment in this direction, and henceforward roads were to seek the city, not the city the roads. The first great east and west line to enter the city was the Michigan Southern & Indiana Northern, now the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern, Feb. 20, 1852. Just three months later the Michigan Central was opened. This was followed by the Chicago & Northwestern ; the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy ; the Chicago, Kock Island & Pacific ; the Pittsburg, Ft. Wayne & Chicago, and the various other lines making up the grand system. On the first day of February, 1854, 1.785 miles of road terminated in the city. The total mileage of the systems centering here now is about 32,285 miles. The marvel of this system is the magnitude of the lines comprising it, and the immense mileage controlled. Sweeping across the continent, they give access to all the ports of both oceans, stretch southward to the harbors of the Gulf, and, disregarding the boundaries of nations, penetrate to the centers of Canada and the Mexican Republic. The suburban systems of trains operated by these roads have created MARQUIS' BAtfD-&0OK OF CHICAGO. 41 a cordon of flourishing suburban towns around the city. During 1883 the average number of regular daily trains arriving were : Passenger, 123 ; suburban, 77 ; freight, 141 ; departing : Passenger, 122 ; sub- urban, 78, and freight, 124 ; total, 665. To these must be added a large number of irregular trains which, together with the natural increase, and the further increase due to the establishment of new lines, w r ill doubtless swell the present aggregate arrivals and departures to fully 850. A peculiar feature of the railroad system of the city is the number of competing lines reaching to all important points, and producing a healthy rivalry, wiiich inures to her benefit in cheap and abundant facilities for transportation. It is a notable fact, also, that while her sister cities have subscribed enormous sums toward their highways, Chicago, in her corporate capacity, has never given one dollar of aid, lent her credit, or taken a share of stock in any of the multitude of enterprises of this kind associated with her history. The Chicago & North-western Railway Company operates 5,646 miles of roadway, tapping the chief centers and rich agricultural regions of Illinois, Wisconsin, northern Michigan, Minnesota, Iowa, Dakota and Nebraska, forming one of the principal commercial high- ways of the west. Its chief termini are Chicago at the east, Council Bluffs at the west, Pierre, Dakota, and St. Paul and Minneapolis at the northwest and Ishpenning at the north. It was organized June 7, 1859, by the creditors of the Chicago, St. Paul & Fond du Lac Railroad, who had succeeded to that property by foreclosure. The line then reached from Chicago north ninety- one miles to Janes ville, and from Fond du Lac south twenty-eight and one-half miles. The Chicago, St. Paul & Fond du Lac Company grew out of a consolidation March 30, 1855, of the Illinois & Wisconsin and the Rock River Valley Compa- nies, chartered respectively in Illinois and Wisconsin early in 1851. The policy of the new company was vigorous from the start. Before the close of 1859 through trains were running from Chicago to Fond du Lac, and an era of extension and absorption was inaugurated which has culminated in the present gigantic system. In 1882 the various companies whose lines had been absorbed were merged into the Chi- cago & Northwestern Company by formal proceedings. Since that time the Northwestern has acquired control of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minne- apolis & Omaha Railway by the purchase of 147,000 shares of its stock, and of the Sioux City & Pacific Railway by purchase. The system is divided into five principal divisions or lines. Skirting the shores of Lake Michigan, the first of these penetrates, via Milwaukee, the Michi- 42 MARQUIS' HAttD-HOOK OF CHICAGO. gan peninsula. The second, passing more to the northwest, sweeps away through Madison, Beloit, and on to Minneapolis and St. Paul. Diverging from this line at Elroy, a third grand division takes a west- erly course, crosses the Mississippi River at Winona, traverses Minne- sota, and halts at Pierre, Dakota. The fourth line leaves Chicago, heads due west, crosses Illinois and Iowa, and terminates at Council Bluffs; and the fifth, leaving this line at Tama, 134 miles beyond the Missis- sippi-, sweeps northward into Dakota. The equipment of the road includes 593 engines and 19,867 freight and passenger cars. The passenger station of the company at the southwest corner of Wells and Kinzie Streets is a massive structure of red pressed brick, with cut stone trimmings, in an attractive style of architecture. Adjoining on the south, and on North State, West Kinzie and at the corner of Canal and Sixteenth Streets, are located the freight depots. The general office is at 56 Kinzie Street. The principal ticket offices are at the depot and at 62 Clark Street. The Michigan Central Railroad is the great central highway of Michigan, through which it ramifies in every direction, and brings tributary to Chicago the vast and fertile region bordered by the great lakes — Michigan, Erie and Huron. It is also a great thoroughfare to the east, especially favored by summer tourists because of its magnifi- cent scenery and cool atmosphere. The construction of the main line, which runs from Detroit to Kensington, HI., 270 miles, was begun in 1836 by the Detroit & St. Joseph Railroad Company, chartered June 29, 1832. April 22, 1837, that company disposed of its property and franchises to the state of Michigan, and under the auspices of the state the road was opened from Detroit to Ypsilanti, thirty miles, Feb. 3, 1838 ; to Ann Arbor, eight miles, Oct. 17, 1839, and in similar small sections annually to Kalamazoo, 144 miles, Feb. 2, 1846, when the legislature refused further appropriations for the work. In this year the present company was chartered and purchased the road, tak- ing possession September 24th. The price paid was $2,000,000, entailing a loss of $500,000 to the state. In May, 1852, the line was finished to Kensington. From this point it enters Chicago, fourteen miles distant, via the Illinois Central track, over which it holds a lease, and uses as a passenger station the depot owned jointly with that road at the foot of Lake Street, the freight depots being located at the foot of South Water Street. The following are the lines operated by the company, including the Canada Southern and other leased roads : Chicago to Niagara Falls and Buffalo, 512.9 miles ; Lake to Joliet, 45 ; MARQUIS' HANb-BOOK Otf CHICAGO. 43 Niles to Jackson, 103.4; Niles to South Bend, 11.1; Kalamazoo to South Haven, 39.5 ; Jackson to Grand Kapids, 93.9 ; Jackson to Bay City, 114.2 ; Bay City to Mackinac City, 182 ; Beaver Lake to Sage's Lake, 8 ; Pinconning to Bowen's Branch, 35 ; Detroit to Bay City, 109; Vassar to Saginaw City, 22.3; Lapeer to Five Lakes, 8.5; Vassar to Caro, 13; Detroit to Toledo, 59.3; Essex Center to Amherstburg, 15.7; Air Line Crossing to Courtright, 62.6; (Michigan, Midland and Canada Railway) St. Clair to Bidgeway, 15 ; Petrolea Branch, 5 ; Niag- ara Junction to Niagara, 27.7 ; Welland to Buffalo, 23 ; total, 1,506.1 miles. The line now crosses the Niagara Eiver on its new cantilever bridge, just below the falls. The equipment of rolling stock comprises 396 locomotives and 11,362 cars of all kinds. The general offices are at Detroit. The Chicago offices are at 183 Dearborn Street. The Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway was begun by the state of Michigan with the purpose of building a line" through its southern tier of counties, connecting Monroe on Lake Erie with New Buffalo on Lake Michigan. Eighteen miles laid with strap rails were completed from Monroe to Petersburg in 1839, extended to Adrian in 1840, and to Hillsdale in 1843, when the state, being unable to secure funds for its further construction, sold the property in 1846 to the Michigan Southern Railway Company, organized in May of that year. In 1835 the Northern Indiana Railroad Company was chartered by the state of Indiana, as the Buffalo & Mississippi Railroad Company, and was organized two years later. The financial disasters of 1837 delayed the enterprise until 1849, when the property was acquired by the Michigan Southern Company, which decided to make Chicago the western terminus, and by which the work was pushed vigorously, the line from lake to lake, 243 miles in length, being opened May 22, 1852. In 1849 possession of the Erie & Kalamazoo, from Toledo to Adrian, thirty-three miles, was acquired by perpetual lease. This line had previously been laid with strap rails and operated with horse power. The Palmyra & Jacksonburg Railroad was opened to Tecum - : seh, thirteen miles, in 1838, sold to the state of Michigan for $22,000 in 1844, and was included in the sale by the state to the Michigan Southern Company, by which it was finished to Jackson. The Lake •Shore & Michigan Southern Railway Company was organized under the laws of Ohio in 1869, and was formed by a consolidation of the system just described with the Cleveland & Toledo, a consolidation, Sept. 1, 1853, of the Toledo, Norwalk & Cleveland, and the junction railroads extending from Toledo to Cleveland ; the Cleveland, Plains- 44 MARQUIS* BAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. ville & Ashtabula, running from Cleveland to Erie, and the Buffalo & Erie Railroad. There were 927.23 miles of road included in this consol- idation which has been increased, by purchase, lease and construction to 1,405.56 miles. The main line is from Chicago to Buffalo via Cleve- land, 540.04 miles, and is double tracked throughout. The passenger depot is on Van Buren Street, corner Sherman. City offices at depot. General offices at Cleveland, Ohio. Controlling interest was recently acquired in the New York, Chicago & St. Louis Kailway, and the two roads are now operated conjointly. The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad stretches from Chicago to Denver, and envelops the states of Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Col- orado, Missouri and Kansas in a net-work of roadways and branches aggregating upwards of 3,400 miles. It taps the coal fields at Streator, sweeps west and southwest to St. Louis, Kansas City, Leavenworth, St. Joseph, Atchison and Denver, Omaha, Lincoln, Des Moines, Burling- ton and Davenport. The road was chartered in 1852 as the Chicago & Aurora (from Chicago to Aurora, some forty miles), but was consoli- dated with the Central Military Tract Kailroad and reorganized under present name July 9, 1856. The purchase of the Northern Cross Railroad, in 1860, extended the line to Quincy, and the Peoria & Oquawka two years later, gave it a through line to Burlington. In 1875 the Burlington & Missouri Koad in Iowa, and in 1880 the same road in Nebraska, was absorbed. And thus the vast landed estate of the company in Iowa and Nebraska was obtained. From 1880 extensions and acquisitions have followed each other rapidly. The road is re- nowned for the excellence of its equipment. Principal offices, corner Adams and Franklin Streets. Passenger station, Union Depot, Canal Street, Perceval Lowell is General Passenger Agent. The Illinois Central Railroad enters the city from the south over six tracks lying along the lake shore. It is a popular route of suburban travel, and has passenger stations at short intervals along the city and suburban portion of the line, which includes a branch from Park Side to South Chicago, 4.76 miles. The company was chartered in Decem- ber, 1850 ; organization completed February lOfch following. An act of Congress made a land grant to the road, conditioned on its comple- tion within six years, and payment to the state of Illinois of seven per cent of the gross earnings. The latter is now a source of considerable revenue to the state. The entire line from Chicago to Cairo, 364.73 miles, and from Centralia to Dubuque, la., 340.77 miles, was opened for traffic Sept. 26, 1856. The Chicago & Springfield, a reorganiza- Union Depot, Canal Street, Between Madisdn and Adams Streets. USED BY: CHICAGO, BURLINGTON & QUINCY; CHICAGO, MILWAUKEE & ST. PAUL; CHICAGO & ALTON; PITTS- BURGH, FT* WAYNE & CHICAGO, AND CHICAGO, ST. LOUIS & PITTSBURGH RAILROADS. 46 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. tion of the Gilman, Clinton & Springfield Boid, 111.47 miles, was leased in 1877. The Kankakee & Southwestern, from Otto to Chats- worth, was built the following year, and was subsequently extended to Normal Junction, 79.46 miles. A branch from Kempton to Kankakee Junction, 111., 41.8 miles, and from Buckingham to Tracy, ten miles, were also added. The Dubuque & Sioux City, the Iowa Falls & Sioux City, and the Cedar Falls & Minnesota Koads, having a total of 402.16 miles, are operated underlease. In 1882 almost the entire stock of the Chicago, St. Louis & New Orleans Eailway was acquired, and the con- trol of the system extending from Cairo to New Orleans, 548 miles, with branches from the main line to Kosciusko and Lexington, Miss., 30.30 miles. In 1884 a branch was opened from Jackson, Miss., to Yazoo City, 45.34 miles, and from Kosciusko to Aberdeen, 86.67. Total number of miles in the system, 2,064.76. General office, 78 Michigan Avenue. Depots, foot of Lake Street. The Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railway was the first road to reach the Mississippi from Chicago. Originally organized as the Eock Island & LaSalle Railroad in 1847, it was reorganized and chartered as the Chicago & Eock Island Eailroad, Feb. 7, 1851, and the line was opened to the Mississippi Eiver July 10, 1854. Upon consolidation with the Mississippi & Missouri Eailway Company Aug. 20, 1866, the present title was assumed. The extension to the Missouri Eiver, and to a junction with the Union Pacific Eailroad was completed in 1869. The Kansas City extension, built by the Iowa Southern & Mis- souri Northern Eailway Company, Avas subsequently purchased, and the Hannibal & St. Joseph, the Peoria & Bureau Valley, and the Keokuk & Des Moines Eoads were leased. June 4, 1880, a formal consolidation was effected, absorbing the following roads : Sou h Chicago Branch, Washington Branch, Iowa Southern & Missouri Northern Eailroad, Atchison, Des Moines, Indianola and Winterset Branches, Newton & Mon- roe, Atlantic Southern, Avoca, Macedonia & Southwestern, and the Atlan- tic & Audubon Eoads, making the total mileage owned 1,120.9, exclu- sive of side tracks, and an aggregate of 1,796 mi es operated. Among the chief terminal points are : Chicago. Peoria, Kansas City, Eock Island, Council Bluffs, Atchison, Davenport, Des Moines, Leavenworth and Keokuk. Control of the "Albert Lea Eoute," acquired in 1881* greatly augmented the mileage and furnished an inlet to Minneapolis and St. Paul. Freight depots, Fourth Avenue and Twelfth Street. Passenger depot, Van Buren Street, between Pacific Avenue and Sher- man Street. E. St. John is general passenger agent* MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 47 The Chicago & Alton Railroad, with its leased lines, forms a grand trunk system spanning the states of Illinois and Missouri, and connect- ing the cities of Chicago, St. Louis and Kansas City, via Joliet, Bloom- ington and Springfield. The total length of line operated is about 1,050 miles. The main line proper reaches from Joliet to Alton. It was chartered as the Chicago & Mississippi River Railroad Feb. 27, 1847, and opened for traffic in 1855. It was reorganized as the St. Louis, Alton & Chicago Railroad in 1857, and the main line extended from Alton to East St. Louis two years later, giving it a total length of 243? miles. The present company was formed Feb. 16, 1861, and came into possession, by foreclosure, in the year following. Entrance into Chicago was secured by a lease in perpetuity of the Joliet & Chicago Railroad, thirty-seven miles in length. In 1879 the Chicago & Illinois River Railroad, now operated as the Coal City Branch, was purchased, and in the same year the Kansas City, St. Louis & Chicago Railroad, just completed, was acquired by perpetual lease. In 1872 the Louisiana & Missouri River Railroad, and in 1877 the Mississippi Bridge had been similarly acquired, as had also the St. Louis, Jackson- ville & Chicago Railroad, since consolidated with the controlling com- pany. The Upper Alton line was extended to Milton in 1882. The equipment embraces some 220 engines, and about 6,200 cars of all kinds, including dining, sleeping, parlor and reclining chair cars. The freight depots are at the corner of West Van Buren and South Canal Streets. Passenger trains use the Union Depot on Canal Street. Tlie general offices are located at the northwest corner of Dearborn and Adams Streets. The ticket office is at 89 South Clark. The Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway is a part of the great Pennsylvania system. It is over this line that the limited express, composed entirely of palace sleepers, runs between Chicago and New York, in twenty-five hours. The company is successor, by consolidation Aug. 1, 1856, of the Ohio & Pennsylvania Company, chartered in Ohio Feb. 24, 1848, and in Pennsylvania April 11th of the same year ; the Ohio & Indiana Company, chartered in Ohio March 20, 1850, and in Indiana Jan. 15, 1851, and the Fort Wayne & Chicago Company organized in Indiana Sept. 22, 1852, and in Illinois Feb. 5, 1853. The entire line from Chicago to Pittsburg, 468.39 miles, was opened for business Jan. 1, 1859 ; sold under foreclosure Oct. 24, 1861, and reorganized under the present title Feb. 26. 1 862. On the 27th of June, 1869, the road was leased in perpetuity to the Pennsyl- vania system, to which it has proved profitable, at a rental of 7% per 48 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. annum on the capital stock. Depots and local offices, corner Canal and Madison Streets. General offices at Pittsburgh. The Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Company succeeded the Chi- cago, Danville & Vincennes Company, which was organized Feb. 16, 1865. The road was sjld under foreclosure Feb. 9, 1877, and present company was organized in August following. Main line extends from Danville, 111., to Djlton, seventeen miles south of Chicago, whence cars enter the city over the Chicago & Western Indiana. The Evansville, Terre Haute & Chicago Road is operated under a 999 years' lease. Freight trains are run over the Indiana, Bloomington & Western Kail way to Covington, 111., and thence over its own line to Coal Creek, nine miles. A branch, thirteen miles, extends from Wellington to Cisna Park, and another from Danville to Sidell, twenty-two miles, through the Grape Creek coal fields. From Otter Creek Junction a leased line extends to Brazil, Ind. General offices, 123 Dearborn Street. The Chicago, St. Louis & Pittsburgh Railroad succeeded to the franchises of the Columbus & Indianapolis Bailroad, a new com; any being formed April 2, 1883. A direct line from Chicago connects Avith the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad at Columbus, Ohio, and another to Indianapolis, Ind., connects with the Jeffersonville, Madi- son & Indianapolis Railroad. The main line 187.15 miles, is from Columbus to Indianapolis. From Bradford Junction, Ohio, a branch, 230.98 miles, extends to Chicago, and from Richmond, Ind., a branch, 102.22 miles, extends to Anoka Junction. A third branch, 60.19 miles, runs from Peoria Junction, Ind., to Illinois State line— making a total length of roadway of 580.54 miles. Union Passenger Depot, Canal Street. Freight depots, corner Carroll Avenue and North Halsted Street, and Carroll Avenue and Clinton Street. The Pennsylvania Com- pany holds a majority of the stock and operates the road. The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway sweeps westward in four great parallels, the first of which crosses the state of Illinois via Elgin, spans the Mississippi at Savanna, throws off branches south- ward to Rock Island, Davenport and Ottumwa, and stretches on to Council Bluffs. The second line leaves M lwaukee via Madison and Prai- rie Du Chien, throws branches to Sioux City, Yankton and Running Water. The third parallel passes north via Milwaukee, thence west via Portage and La Crosse, traverses southern Minnesota and penetrates far into Dakota. Leaving the first "ine at the Mississippi River, the fourth grand division follows the Father of Waters north past Dubuque, crosses the second line at Prairie Du Chien and the third at La Crosse, MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 49 strikes direct for St. Paul and Minneapolis, and runs thence to Ellen- dale and Aberdeen, Dakota, and continuing south to Mitchell it strikes the Iowa and Dakota division. The intermediate territory between the parallels is filled with branches and minor lines which increase the total mileage operated to 4,804.6 miles. The company, which holds a charter from the state of Wisconsin, its chief offices being at Milwaukee, was formed by a consolidation in 1873 of the Milwaukee & Waukesha, the Madison & Prairie Du Chien, the La Crosse & Milwaukee, and the St. Paul & Chicago companies, with a total of 1,399 miles of track, which was augmented in 1878 to 1,539 miles. In the next year 535 miles were added by purchase and construction, 143 of which were in Dakota, the purchases including the Western Union, the Davenport & Northwestern, the Minnesota Southern, and the Minnesota Extension railroads. In 1880 349 miles of road were built and 1,193 miles pur- chased, and in the next year 442 miles of road were constructed. Dur- ing 1882 the total mileage was increased to 4,520 miles, which, up to July 15, 1884, had been further augmented to 4,804.6 miles as above stated. The equipment of the road is very complete, numbering 626 engines and 19,018 cars of all classes. Passenger trains use the Union Depot at Canal and Madison Streets. The freight depots are at the corner of Carroll Avenue and North Union Street. Grain elevators are at the corner of North Canal Street and Carroll Avenue. Ticket offices are at 63 Clark Street and at the Union Depot. F. A. Miller is the gen- eral agent in Chicago. The general office is at Milwaukee, Wis. The Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Railway, better known as the " Monon Koute," traverses the entire length of the state of Indiana from north to south and has for its termini Chicago, Louisville, Indian- apolis and Michigan City. It owns a one-fifth interest in a leasehold of the Chicago & AVestern Indiana Railroad, over whose line it enters the city from Hammond, Ind., and uses jointly with other roads the new passenger station of that company at Polk Street and Fourth Avenue. It also holds a one -fifth interest in the Belt Railway of Chi- cago, The original line was chartered by the state of Indiana, Jan. 25, 1847, under the name of the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Rail- road, and sold under foreclosure and reorganized by the first mortgage creditors under its present name, Dec. 27, 1872. It was opened July 4, 1852, and extended from Michigan City to New Albany, 288 miles. On the 10th of July, 1881, it was consolidated with the Chicago & Indianapolis Air Line Railroad, which was a reorganization of the Indianapolis, Delphi & Chicago, under the charter of which the com- 4 50 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. pany completed its line from Delphi to Hammond in January, 1882, crossing the main line at Monon. Later in the same year a contract was concluded with the Pennsylvania Company whereby that company doubled its track between the junction of the two roads and the Louis- ville bridge, and track privileges were secured over the same by lease for ninety-nine years, and an entrance into Louisville gained. The track from Chicago to Louisville, 317 miles in length, is now operated as the main line. The line from Monon to Michigan City, fifty-nine miles, is known as the Northern division, and the branch from Monon to Indianapolis, ninety-four miles, opened for traffic March 25, 1883, as the Indianapolis division. A feature of the route is a through line of sleepers from Chicago to Jacksonville, Florida. The equipment em- braces sixty engines and 2,400 cars of all descriptions. The freight depots of the AVestern Indiana Railroad at the corner of Polk Street and Fourth Avenue are used. The ticket office is at 122 Eandolph Street, and the general office of the road is at 183 Dearborn Street. The Chicago & Grand Trunk Railway now forms the western extension of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada, by which it is operated, and with which it forms a continuous line from Chicago through Michigan and Canada to Portland, Me., and the Atlantic coast, embracing, with branches and auxiliary lines a total mileage of 3,330 miles. Its termini are Montreal, Detroit, Buffalo, Chicago Goderich, Point Levi and Portland. The main line of the Chicago & Grand Trunk Railway extends from Chicago to Port Huron. Mich., a distance of 330J miles. It also operates four miles of the Grand Trunk Junction Railroad, and four and a half miles of the Western Indiana Road, over which it enters the city from Forty-ninth Street, running into the Union Depot of that road at Third Avenue and Polk Street, which it uses as a passenger station. The company is the result of a consolidation, effected April 7, 1880, of the Port Huron & Lake Michigan, opened in Dacember, 1871, and the Peninsula Rail- road, opened in 1872 (which were consolidated under the name of the Chicago & Lake Huron Railroad, in August, 1873, and extended to Valparaiso, Ind.), with the line between Lansing and Flint, Mich., built by the Northwestern Railroad Company, and the extension from Valparaiso to Chicago, built by the Northwestern Grand Trunk Rail- way Company, and opened Feb. 8, 1880. The rolling stock of the Chicago & Grand Trunk proper consists of 103 locomotive engines and 1,169 cars for all purposes. The Grand Trunk system, however, of which it forms the western division, owns over 21,000 cars and 52 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. some 700 locomotives. The freight depots are at Twelfth Street and Third Avenue. The ticket offices are at 103 Washington Street, and at the depot. The main offices of the road are at Port Huron and Detroit, Mich. The Chicago office is in the First National Bank building. The Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway is a vast system of con- necting lines formed by consolidation, purchase and lease of its various parts, and traversing the richest sections of the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri with a net-work of tracks, aggregating 3,601.2 miles. It constitutes one of the most important highways of the city to which it brings tributary an enormous territory, and between which and St. Louis it forms a direct connection. The main line of the road, 712.2 miles long, extends from Toledo, Ohio, via St. Louis to Kansas City. Other principal lines reach out to Chicago, Burlington, Council Bluffs, and less important termini. The Chicago line is formed of the Chicago & Strawn Railroad from Strawn, Illinois, to a junction with the Chicago & Western Indiana Eailroad near Chi- cago, 97.8 miles, whence it enters the city via the latter road, 1.9 miles, making use of the terminal facilities of the Chicago & Western Indiana, including the Union Depot at Fourth Avenue and Polk Street. The Chicago & Strawn Boad was acquired by purchase Aug. 1, 1880, and the Chicago & Paducah, 165 miles, April 1, 1880, and merged into the main corporation. The other terminal facilities include the use of the freight depot of the Western Indiana Company at Twelfth Street and Fourth Avenue. The rolling stock consists of 614 engines and 20,177 cars of all descriptions. On the 10th of April, 1883, the road and property of the company were leased for 99 years to the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Eailroad which was itself leased to the Mis- souri Pacific Eailroad Company, which thereby came into control and with which close connections were formed advantageous to through traffic to the Pacific slope. The principal offices are established at St. Louis. In the summer of 1884 Solon Humphreys and Thomas E. Tutt were appointed receivers. The local ticket office is at 109 Clark Street. The local freight offices are at the freight depot corner of Twelfth Street and Fonrth Avenue. The Chicago & West Michigan Railway, whose main line extends from La Crosse, Ind., to Pentwater, Mich., 208.74 miles, with branches ramifying through the adjacent territories and making up a total mile- age of 409.74 miles, has recently secured an entrance into Chicago over the Michigan Central Eailroad, whose depots at the foot of MARQUIS' HAND.BOOK OF CHICAGO. 53 South Water Street it uses, and it constitutes with its connections a through line to Manistee, Ludington, Grand Kapids, Muskegon, Grand Haven, and all points in western Michigan. Parlor and sleeping cars are run on all trains. This company was formed Oct. 1, 1881, by the consolidation of the Chicago & West Michigan Eailroad, from New Buffalo to Pentwater, 170 miles, with branches 91.9 miles ; the Grand Rapids, Newaygo & Lake Shore Eailroad from Grand Eapids to White Cloud, forty-six miles, organized Sept. 11, 1869 ; the Grand Haven Eailroad from Allegan to Muskegon, fifty-seven and a half miles, and the Indiana & Michigan Eailroad, of Indiana. The company first named was organized Jan. 1, 1879, as the successor of the Chicago & Michigan Lake Shore Eailroad Company, which was organized April 24, 1869, opened its main line July 1, 1873, and was sold under fore- closure and reorganized Nov. 16, 1878. In 1882 the Indiana & Michigan Eailway was opened to La Crosse. By a recent arrangement the company now runs through daily trains from Grand Eapids to Cincinnati over the tracks of the Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis & Chicago Eailway. The equipment includes some thirty engines and 900 cars of all classes. The general offices and address of the road is at Muskegon, Mich. The local ticket office is at 67 Clark Street. The Chicago & Western Indiana Railroad was organized under the statutes of Illinois June 6, 1879, for the purpose of leasing its road and terminal facilities in the city and vicinity to other companies. It owns the splendid new Union Depot now in process of construction at Fourth Avenue and Polk Street, together with freight depots and ware- houses at Twelfth Street and Third Avenue, which, together with the track, are used jointly by the Chicago & Eastern Illinois, the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific, the Chicago & Grand Trunk, the Chicago & Atlantic, and the Louisville, New Albany & Chicago Companies. It also owns an elevator on the Chicago Eiver near Eighteenth Street with capacity of 1,500,000 bushels. The road was opened in May, 1880, and in the following year the company was consolidated with the South Chicago & Western Indiana Eailroad Company, whereby access to the iron and lumber interests at South Chicago was secured, and with the Chicago & Western Indiana Belt Eailway Company affording connection for the transfer of cars with the various roads centering in Chicago. The Belt division is leased by the Belt Eaihvay of Chicago. The track owned by the company includes the line from P. Ik Street to Dalton, Illinois, 16.69 miles, the Hammond extension, 10.28 miles, and the Belt division, 24.68 miles, making a total of 51.69 miles. The 54 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. annual rental is $760,000. The rolling stock includes 12 locomotives and 155 cars, principally platform cars. The company also owns sixty-seven acres of land within the city limits, and 146 acres in the immediate suburbs, including some very valuable wharf property. The principal offices are at 94 Washington Street. The Cincinnati, Indianapolis, St. Louis & Chicago Railway, popu- larly known as the "Big Four," or the "Kankakee Eoute," constitutes a through line between Chicago, Indianapolis, Louisville and Cincin- nati, and at the last two places forms through connection for all points in the south. The company grew out of a consolidation in 1866 of the Cincinnati & Indianapolis and the Lafayette & Indianapolis Kail- roads, taking at that time the title of the Indianapolis, Cincinnati & Lafayette Railroad, and operated the main line from Cincinnati to Lafayette, 174.90 miles, until sold under foreclosure, Feb. 2, 1880. It was then purchased in behalf of those formerly interested in it, and a new company organized, which took possession March 6th of the same year. The Cincinnati, Lafayette & Chicago Railroad (Lafayette to Kankakee, seventy-five and a half miles,) was leased Sept. 1, 1880, and incorporated into the main line, and an entrance from Kankakee into Chicago over the line of the Illinois Central was acquired by con- tract. This contract also secured the use of the terminal stations of the latter road at the foot of Lake and South Water Streets. The company owns a half interest in and operates the Kankakee & Seneca Kailroad between the points named, 42.32 miles, and a branch to Lawrenceburg, Ind., 2.60 miles. It also operates, under perpetual lease, a line from Valley Junction to Harrison, Ohio, 7.40 miles; another from Fairland to Martinsville, Ind., 38.30 miles; and a third from Greensburg to North Yernon, Ind., 44.39 miles, making the total lines operated 385.41 miles. The rolling stock consists of seventy- five engines and 3,173 cars of all kinds. The general offices of the roae 1 . are at Cincinnati. The local ticket office is at 121 Randolph Street, and the local freight office 130 Washington Street. The New York, Chicago & St. Louis Railway, better known as the "Nickel Plate," was organized as a competing line for the traffic formerly controlled by the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad, with which it runs parallel through the same territory a few miles to the south. The company was organized April 13, 1881, under the laws of New York, and began work in the same year. The line stretch- ing from Chicago, via Ft. Wayne, along the shores of Lake Erie to Buffalo, 513.28 miles, was opened for business Oct. 23, 1882. The MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 55 roadway is laid with steel rails, and the line is some twenty-five miles shorter than the "Lake Shore Eoute." Eecently control of the line has been obtained by the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Eailroad Company through the purchase of some $26,530,000 of its stock, and it is now operated in conjunction with that road, and uses the same depots in this city. The Baltimore & Ohio & Chicago Railroad forms a part of the great Baltimore & Ohio system, the picturesque and popular through line to the Atlantic border. It was chartered March 13, 1872, as the Baltimore, Pittsburg & Chicago Eailroad, and opened for traffic in November, 1874. The line, which was built and is owned by the Baltimore & Ohio Company, extends from Chicago Junction, Ohio, to Parkside Junction, Illinois, on the Illinois Central Eailroad, 262.60 miles. From Parkside Junction it enters the city over the track of the road last named, a distance of eight and a half miles, making use of a temporary passenger station at the foot of Monroe Street, adjoin- ing the Exposition building on the north. An extension of the line is also in progress to Pittsburg. The present title was adopted in 1877. The principal offices are located at 83 Clark Street, the resident officers of the road being A. P. Bigelow, general agent, and T. H. Dearborn, general northwestern passenger agent. The general officers are those of the Baltimore & Ohio Company. The chief ticket office is also at 83 Clark Street. The freight depots are at the foot of South Water Street. The rolling stock of the road is that of the Baltimore & Ohio system, and is unsurpassed in point of excellence. This is the only through line east from Chicago via Washington City. The Belt Railway Company was chartered Nov. 22, 1882. May 1, 1883, under lease from the Chicago & Western Indiana Eailroad Company, it assumed control and commenced to operate what is now known as the Belt Eailway of Chicago, a track beginning at South Chicago and extending west about eleven miles, thence north about eleven miles to a connection with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Eailway, and connecting between those two terminal points with all railroads entering the city. This road does a general transfer or switching business between the various railroads, and to and from the industries located on its own line. It is situated outside the city limits, on the open prairie. It is equipped with nine powerful loco- motives, and 130 flat cars. The total length of the line is 22.20 miles. The office of the company is at 94 Washington Street. The Chicago & "Western Railroad is a local line for switching pur- 56 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. poses, extending from Morgan Street to Ada Street, Chicago, 1.44 miles, and forming a connection between the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and the " Pan Handle " tracks, with a number of coal and lum- ber yards, elevators and warehouses. The road-bed and tracks oper- ated were acquired by lease, Oct. 5, 1881, for 99 years, from the Chi- cago & Eastern Illinois Kailroad Company. The office is at 87 Dear- born Street. The Chicago & Atlantic Railroad runs across the northern portion of Indiana, south of the "Ft. Wayne Koute," 269 miles to a junction with the New York, Pennsylvania & Ohio Kailroad at Marion, Ohio, in connection with which it is operated, and forms an additional through line to the Atlantic coast. The company is the outgrowth of a consol- idation June 19, 1873, of the Chicago & Atlantic Kailroad Com- pany, organized as the Chicago, Continental & Baltimore Kailroad Company Dec. 1, 1871, and the Chicago & Atlantic Extension Kail- way Company, formed March 15, 1873. Into the company thus formed was also merged, July 15, 1873, the Baltimore, Pittsburg & Continental Railroad Company, which had been organized Nov. 18, 1871. Track laying was completed in 1882, and the road was form- ally opened on the 17th of June of the following year. The main line of the road extends from Marion, 257 miles, to a junction with the Chicago & Western Indiana Kailroad, 19.5 miles from the city. The latter road is thence used into the city, together with its terminal facilities. The general offices of the company are at the corner of Clark and Fourteenth Streets. The Chicago & Evanston Railroad Company is organized under a charter granted Feb. 16, 1861. The authorized capital stock is $1,000,000, of which $565,700 are paid in. The road is completed to Calvary, a distance of about nine miles, and will probably be in opera- tion to Evanston very early in 1885. The piece of road from Wabansia Avenue along Hawthorn Avenue to Larrabee Street is owned jointly with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Kail way Company. The com- pany proposes to construct a track from Larrabee Street to the Union Depot on Canal Street. This road has encountered many difficulties that have greatly retarded its construction. The office of the company is at No. 8 Ashland Block. Lake Michigan, one of the chain of great inland seas which, Avith their connections, form a grand internal and international waterway, was, until within the past half century, practically the only commercial highway of the city, and still continues, despite the fierce competition MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 5? of railroads, one of the great arteries of her trade and an important agent in her prosperity. Along its shore came first the light canoes of the Indians, to barter with the traders at the primitive post. With increasing traffic grew up a demand for heavier boats, which was met by the "Mackinaw" barges used largely in the fur trade. These did not wholly disappear from the lake until 1830, As the commerce of the city widened, the lake constituted the sole avenue to the east, and over its bosom and through the straits came and went the first car- goes. Then, as the natural resources of the country were developed and cultivated, it brought within the city's reach the iron and copper and timber of the north, and the products of its bordering fields, and bound her in close connection with the thriving communities on its shores. It is now the avenue of a splendid commerce, extending to Manitoba in the far northwest, through the straits to the busy cities on the eastern lakes and the shores of the picturesque St. Lawrence, giving direct communication with Milwaukee, Erie, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit and other important points, and access via the Erie and Welland Canals to the Atlantic seaboard and European ports. Over the lake passes a large percentage of the direct imports and exports of the city, which amounted in 1841 to $1,848,362, and in 1883 to $13,647,551, exclusive of duty. The lake also .provides a cheap route to the coal fields of Pennsylvania and the lumber regions of the north, and has made Chicago the distributing point for these commodities for the great northwest, and the greatest lumber market in the world. The first vessel to arrive at Chicago was the schooner " Tracy," in 1803, bringing soldiers and supplies for the fort. At that time, and until 1833, there was no harbor, and a bar across the mouth of the river prevented access to it. Vessels were anchored off shore, and unloaded or loaded by lighters. In the year named, after long and patient effort, Congress was induced to appropriate $25,000, and the building of the present magnificent harbor was begun, access being gained to the river in the following spring. Lighthouses were built but found ineffective, and the harbor was unprotected until 1870, when the present breakwater, now approaching completion, stretching across the inlet and enclosing the spacious inner harbor, with its light- house, was begun. In 1835 some 212 vessels arrived in port. From 1832 occasional steamboats touched at Chicago, but it was not till 1839 that the first regular line was established. This line of boats plied between the city and Buffalo. In 1856 the first clearance for Europe direct was made by the steamer " Dean Richmond," and the 58 MARQUIS' BAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. first direct arrival from abroad did not occur till the following year. The total arrivals in port in 1883 were 11,967 vessels, having a ton- nage of 3,812,464 tons, and the total clearances were 12,015 vessels, with a tonnage of 3,980,873 tons. The Chicago River is properly an internal waterway of the city, intimately connected with the lake and constituting an essential part of the harbor. Its shores are continuous lines of docks bordered by mammoth warehouses, elevators and yards for heavy traffic in coal, lumber, etc., and giving anchorage to the multitude of vessels plying the lake. As it now is, the river is more a creation of man than of nature. The original bed wa; comparatively shallow and narrow, and near its mouth turned abruptly southward, entering the lake by a tor- tuous channel, over a bar which blocked the passage of vessels. As early as 1805 an agent of the government suggested the cutting away of the bar, but his idea only contemplated the clearing of a passage for the admission of the Mackinaw trading crafts, and was not given attention. The first vessel to enter the waters of the river was the "Westward Ho," which was hauled over the bar by oxen in 1833. In March of the same year work was begun on the Government piers, and before the close of the following year both the north and south piers had been pushed out some 500 feet, cutting off the old tor- tuous channel to the south. In the spring of 1834 a freshet did the work of dredging, and vessels of heavy burden entered the river for the first time. The timbers for piers were first rafted from the Calumet River, and the stone was procured some three miles up the South Branch. Later the timbers were brought from Wisconsin and Michigan. Up to 1838 the piers were annually pushed further into the lake, but the continuous formation of bars at the mouth of the channel by the lake currents destroyed the practical benefits of the work, and in this year the course of the piers was deflected twenty-five and a half degrees to the south. Work continued inter- mittently until 1857, when the north pier extended into the lake 2,800 feet, and the shore line at the mouth of the river had pushed itself out several hundred yards. The channel between the piers was then 200 feet wide, and had been dredged to a depth of eight to twelve feet. In 1854 it was determined to create an interior basin, and the river was widened for the purpose. In October of the same year a ship canal was dredged through the bar. The wharfing privi- leges, which had occasioned much dispute, were defined in 1833, and the wharfs were sold or leased in perpetuity, in consideration of a 60 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. payment of their value and an annual rental of one barleycorn. It was specified in all cases that a substantial dock, three feet high and five feet wide, should be built and maintained in perpetuity. In 1857 only six miles of dock had been built. At present there are twelve miles of slips and basins, and twenty-nine miles of river front mostly docked. The Illinois & Michigan Canal tapping the Chicago Eiver at Bridgeport, four miles south of its mouth, extends to a junction with the Illinois Eiver at LaSalle, ninety-six miles distant, whence, by the improvement of the latter river, access is had to the Mississippi. The importance of this water-way to the southwest was seen by Joliet more than two hundred years ago, and was the subject of agitation from the days of the pioneers to the present time. A grant of the right of way, ninety feet wide, was made to the state by Congress in 1822 ; a dona- tion of 284,000 acres of land was made by the same body in 1827, and finally work was commenced at Bridgeport July 4, 1836. It was completed for light draught boats in 1848, at a cost of $1,848,150.32. The work of deepening the canal to nine and a half feet was under- taken in 1867, and completed at a cost of about $11,000,000. The pumping works, which are an indispensable auxiliary, were enlarged in capacity in 1880 to 60,000 cubic feet per minute. At the fall elec- tion of 1882 a constitutional amendment was adopted by the people of the state, ceding the canal to the United States on condition that the government shall enlarge it to a ship canal, extend it to the Missis- sippi Eiver, and maintain it free of tolls. The following were the prin- cipal receipts by the canal in 1883 : Corn, 1,880,954 bushels; oats, 506.298 bushels; seeds, 516.337 bushels; miscellaneous goods, 933,754 pounds. The principal shipments for the same period were : Wheat, 614,543 bushels ; lumber 28,638,177 feet ; shingles, 34, 225 ; laths, 6,155,950 ; miscellaneous goods, 1,586,307 pounds. <©he ^Public 'SBuil&mg*. THE CITY, COUNTY AND UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT BUILD- INGS AND THE POSTOFFICE. CHICAGO is very little, if at all, behind contemporary cities in the number, character, architecture, and general details of her public buildings, and in some of these particulars the public buildings sur- pass those of any other municipality in the country. The County Court House and City Hall may well stand for an example ; notwithstanding the fact that, through economy or lack of taste, the original design was changed by leaving off the domes and other upper structures that would have greatly added to the appear- ance of the building. It is a dual structure, occupying the square bounded by Clark, LaSalle, Washington and Eandolph Streets, giving it a frontage of 340 feet on the east and west sides, and 280 feet on the north and south. It is located in the business center of "the city, and is by far the most massive and elaborate public building in Chi- cago. The style of architecture is the modern French renaissance. Above the sub-building is a colonnaded double story with Corin- thian columns thirty-five feet in height, which gives to the entire structure a lofty, yet solid and imposing appearance. These immen.s t columns of polished Maine granite support an entablature at once mathematical and elegant in proportions, and divided into archi- trave, frieze and cornice. An attic story enriched by the sculptor's chisel with allegorical groups representing Agriculture, Commerce, Peace and Plenty, Mechanical Art and Science Art, surmounts the entablature and completes the grandeur of the noble outlines. The materials are principally upper Silurian limestone, from the quarries along the Desplaines Eiver in this state. The columns, pilasters and pedestals are of Maine granite. The building is fire-proof through- out, and the total cost is nearly $6,000,000. The work of construc- tion was begun in 1877, and the court-house division, which fronts on Clark Street, was completed and occupied by the county officials in 1882. The apartments assigned to the County, Probate, Superior, and Circuit Courts are capacious and convenient, amply provided with 62 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. private rooms for judges, jurors, offices of the court attaches, and huge fire and burglar-proof vaults for the preservation of judiciary records, while each suite is fitted up in a style plain but very rich, which is at once appropriate to the character of the edifice and com- mendable to good taste. The Sheriff, Coroner, and Kecorder of Deeds occupy the extensive basement, and the County Clerk, Board of Com- missioners, and Board of Education, together with a host of other officials, find conveniently arranged quarters within its spacious walls. The City Hall division, fronting on LaSalle Street, is similar in its architectural features to the county portion of the building, and was intended to be its complement, except for such variations in ornamen- tation as were required to avoid monotony and introduce a distinctive element into its appearance. The interior is finished in white oak. The police and fire departments and the City Electrician are located in the spacious basement story ; the water, building and special assess- ment departm nts, and the offices of the Mayor, Comptroller, and City Treasurer, in the first story ; the numerous offices of the depart- ment of public works occupy the second story ; and th3 law, health and educational departments, the city council and working committees and the numerous other offices of the city government, are all allotted ample and convenient quarters. A large portion of the interior of the upper stories is still unfinished. The settling of the foundations from the immense weight has caused the cracking of some stones in both the city and county buildings, but as yet has not injuriously affected either the durability or safety of the structures. This is the second joint structure built by the county and city for administrative use, and the third city hall erected by the municipal authorities. When Chicago became a chartered city the "Fathers" leased a hall in the old "Saloon Building" (shown in illustration on. page 18), .said to have been the finest public hall west of Buffalo at the time. It was located at the southeast corner of Lake and Clark Streets, and was a square three-story frame, having its first floor devoted to store purposes, the second to offices, and the third floor occupied by a public hall. In 1842 a building at the corner of LaSalle and Kandolph Streets was secured and occupied until the first munici- pal structure erected in Chicago was completed. This was called the Market Building, and was situated in the center of State Street, front- ing forty feet on Kandolph, and extended north toward Lake Street 180 feet. It was a plain two-story stone and brick structure. The first story was divided into thirty-two stalls and leased for market purposes. 64 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. The upper story contained four rooms used for city purposes. It cost $11,000, and was first occupied Nov. 13, 1848. In June, 1851, the county and city decided to erect a joint building on the public square, and Sept. 11, 1851, the corner-stone was laid with appropriate cere- monies. As at first constructed, it had two stories and basement. The main part was 100 feet square, and had four narrow wings projecting The Second Court-House in Chicago— Burned by the Great Fire. from the sides. It was first occupied Feb. 7, 1853. A third story and two wings were afterward added. The grounds contained graveled walks, grass plats, trees, shrubbery, etc. The building was destroyed by the great fire in 1871. The east wing, however, was left in such a condition as to be again made habitable and, in part, served the wants of the city officials until the erection of the present edifice on the same site necessitated its demolition. The city administration then fell into its old itinerant habits, and drifted about until it found lodgings in the "old tank," or " rookery," as the make-shift for a city hall is familiarly MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 65 styled, on the corner of LaSalle and Adams Streets. This homely- looking structure, which has a history of its own, was in its original state a huge iron water tank, or reservoir, belonging to the old water works service on the South Side, prior to the great fire. The munici- pal government seized upon it and made it the nucleus of a temporary abiding place. Surrounding it with a hastily erected squatty two -story brick building, and transforming the tank itself into safety vaults, it was dignified by the appellation of " City Hall." The Criminal Court and County Jail Buildings consist of three buildings grouped together. They occupy about two-thirds of the square between Michigan, Illinois and Clark Streets and Dearborn Avenue, an alley forming the west boundary line. The Criminal Court building has a frontage of 140 feet on Michigan Street, and sixty-five feet on Dearborn Avenue. It is constructed of limestone. The main entrance on Michigan Street is through a broad portico with massive fluted columns. A wide entrance from Dearborn Avenue, through a hallway, leads also to the center, or court, into Avhich the main entrance opens, and from which stairways ascend to the court rooms above. The Criminal Court of Cook County occupies the entire upper portion of the building. The sessions of the court commence the first Monday in each month, and are presided over by the Judges of the Circuit and Superior Courts of Cook County in alternation. Adjoining on the north is a two story and basement building which fronts directly upon Dearborn Avenue, giving an "L" shape to the eastern exposure of the court building. This is occupied in part by the north town officials, the county utilizing the remainder. This building, which is of brick with stone trimmings, extends 137 feet on Dearborn Avenue to the corner of Illinois Street, on which it fronts forty-three feet. It is entered from both thoroughfares by plain iron balcony stairs rising from the sidewalk to the main floor. In the space or yard formed by the rear of these two structures with Illinois Street on the north and the alley on the east, the county jail is located — the'frontage on Illinois Street being 141 feet. It is in no wise connected with the other buildings except by a narrow bridge, enclosed with heavy corru- gated sheet iron, which leads direct to the " criminal box" in the court room. It contains one hundred and thirty-six cells in the male wards, forty-eight in the female and fourteen in the juvenile wards. It is a plain, substantial structure of brick and iron, and is in marked contrast with the architecture of the court building. This group of buildings was erected in 1873 by the county at a cost of $375,000. 66 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. The United States Government Building (Postoffice and Custom House), completed in 1880 at a cost, including grounds and surround- ing street improvements, of $6,000,000, is one of the handsomest government edifices in the country. Its base dimensions are 342 by 210 feet, which leaves spacious elevated lawns, surrounded by heavy coping. It occupies the square bounded by Dearborn, Clark, Adams and Jackson Streets, and is three stories in height, with base- U. S. Government Building -Postoffice and Custom-House. ment and attic. The style of architecture is known as the Koman- esque, with Venetian treatment. It is almost entirely of iron and stone, and is fire-proof throughout. The basement and first floor are occupied exclusively by the Postoffice Department. In the basement, reached by an inclined driveway on the west side, extending from Adams Street through to Jackson, all mail matter is received and dispatched. The first floor is devoted to the general delivery, carriers, money order, registry and stamp divisions, and executive purposes. The interior of the building above the basement forms a court, 83 by 198 feet. This court is covered by an immense skylight at the s3cond story, being an open court above. The second floor i^ MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 67 COLLECTOR'S OFFICE-U. S. CUSTOMS. used by the Collector of Customs, Internal Kevenue Collector, Sub- Treasurer, Commissioner of Pensions and special mail agents. The third floor is occupied by the various United States Courts and offices connected with the Interior and Law De- partments. The interior of the building is exceedingly rich in finish. The floors are all in tiling of black and white marble. The grand staircases in the north and south halls are especially notable, being of solid iron, artistic in design, and painted to rep- resent wood, with steps laid in small parti- colored tiles. The building is furnished Avith four elevators and every improved convenience of the age, and is heated throughout by steam from engines in the basement, the temperature being regu- lated to 60° the year round. The approaches are from each of the four streets ; they are exceedingly spacious, and are made uniform with the broad sidewalk surrounding the square, which is covered to the curb with massive stone flagging. Each of the four streets forming the square were also paved to the center by the government. The promi- nence of the building is made more im- posing by the appearance of isolation given it by its surroundings, which throw it out in bold relief. Large as the building is, the postoffice department is already crowded, such has been the growth of the business since it was occupied. Eight branch offices, located in different parts of the city, each with its corps of clerks and carriers, help to relieve the pressure ; but by far the largest portion of the work is done from the main office, among the largo business houses situated within its imme- diate delivery district. The total number of carriers employed is 317 ; number of clerks, 480 ; total number of pieces delivered in 1883. 78,754,271 ; total receipts for the year ending June 30. 1884, $1,- 892,241. The amount of duties collected in the customs department in 1883 was $4,075,166.85. on merchandise valued at $10,453,701. The internal revenue collections for the fiscal year ending June 30, U. S. Sub-Treasury Office. 68 MARQUIS' HAND-BOOK OF CHICAGO. 1883, were $9,118,191. On the lawn plat formed by Clark and Adams Streets, and facing their intersection, stands a monument seven feet in height, bearing this inscription : TO THE MEMORY OF George Buchanan Armstron FOUNDER OF THE RAILWAY MAIL SERVICE IN THE United States; born in armagh, ireland, OCTOBER 27, A. D. 1822. DIED IN CHICAGO MAY 5, A. D. 1871. Erected by the Clerks in the service 1881 A life size bust of Mr. Armstrong surmounts the pedestal of polished dark marble which rests on a base about three feet square. The Other Public Buildings, including hospitals, asylums, infirm- aries, police stations, engine houses, and school-houses, have been noted in appropriate chapters. ^he ®H£>