Site of origin of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.
Address: Dekoven and Jefferson Street
In 1961, a bronze sculpture of stylized flames entitled "Pillar of Fire" was erected at the point of origin of Chicago fire.
Sculptor: Egon Weiner ..
At the base of the sculpture "Pillar of Fire" is written:
Here began the Chicago Fire of 1871..
The site was designated a Chicago Landmark on September 15, 1971..
Since 1956, Chicago Fire Academy, a training facility for Chicago firefighters has been located here..
Chicago Landmark ..
Site of the origin of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 ..
The great Chicago fire began October 8, 1871, in the O'Leary barn on DeKoven Street. Fanned by a strong wind, in a city largely built of wood structures, the blaze raged for nearly 30 hours. Flames spread so far as Fullerton Avenue, before finally dying out in the early morning rain, October 10. Almost everything in the path of the fire had been destroyed.
Designated a Chicago Landmark on September 15, 1971
by the City Council of Chicago
Richard J. Daley, Mayor
Commission on Chicago Historical and Architectural Landmarks
The plaque reads ..
Mrs. O'Leary's Home..
On this site stood home and barn of Mrs. O'Leary where the Chicago fire of 1871 started. Although there are many versions of the story of its origin, the real cause of the fire has never been determined.
Erected by Chicago's Charter Jubilee
Authenticated by Chicago Historical Society 1937...
The Fire started around 9 o'clock on Sunday evening, October 8, 1871; and continued till Tuesday morning, Oct 10, when some much-needed rain helped to stop the blaze. The Fire killed approximately 300 people, destroyed over 17,000 structures, and left 100,000 people homeless..
I've read at many places that a few buildings survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, most famous being the Old Water Tower at Magnificent Mile. But, I coudnt find the names of all the buildings that survived the fire together at-one-place anywhere. However, in my googling endeavours, I did find these names scattered over at different websites. So here I'm putting them all together..
All the seven buildings that survived the fire..
- Old Water Tower.. at the Magnificient Mile..
- Chicago Avenue Pumping Station..at the Magnificent Mile..
- St. Michael's Church in Old Town..
- Old St.Patrick's Church on Adams Street..
- 2339 N Cleveland in Mid-North District..
- 2343 N Cleveland in Mid-North District..
- 2121 N Hudson in Mid-North District..
Old Water Tower..
Location: 806 North Michigan Avenue...
Chicago Avenue Pumping Station..
Location: 821 North Michigan Avenue..
St. Michael's Church in Old Town..
Address: 1633 N Cleveland Avenue, Chicago, IL 60614..
REF: St. Michael in Old Town, history..click here
"Soon, flames tore into all the parish buildings, leveling all of them. Only the walls of the church remained standing."
Old St.Patrick's Church..
Address: 700 W Adams Street, Chicago, IL, 60661 ..
REF: Old St. Patrick’s Church.. click here..
"Having survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, Old St. Patrick’s stands as the oldest public building in the city."
Three cottages in the Mid-North District ...
# Twin buildings: 2339 N Cleveland and 2323 N Cleveland..
# 2121 N Hudson building ...
2339 N Cleveland [left].. and.. 2323 N Cleveland [right]..
REF: Chicago Landmarks: Mid-North District click here...
"Several pre-Fire of 1871 wooden Worker's Cottages still survive in the district"..
However, the official site on Chicago Landmarks, did not specify the name of the buildings. So I had to search on wikipedia ...
REF: Chicago/Lincoln Park-Old Town - Historic Districts..
Some pre-fire buildings..
is considered the oldest surviving domestic structure in Chicago.
Address: 1855 S. Indiana Ave.
Year Built: Circa 1836
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: October 14, 1970.
# For more, click here..
Address: 1076 W. Roosevelt Road
Year Built: 1869; West addition, 1874
Architects: Toussaint Menard,John P. Huber
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: March 18, 1987..
# For more, click here..
hey im a kid looking up some resrc and i jus want t say thanks fo this site:)
this is a great site and catalog of chicago architecture, you could/should make this into a book, i'd buy it
St. Ignatius is one of the survivors too! http://www.cityofchicago.org/Landmarks/S/StIgnatius.html
St. Ignatius pre-dates the Fire of 1871..
It can be called a survivor only when it is in the line of fire ..
There are a few buildings that
pre-dates the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.. But they cannot be called "survivors" of the fire..unless they were in the line of fire..
Jyoti - I came across this description of the house at 2343 N Cleveland:
"The property has a lot size of 5,640 square feet and was built in 1886."
If it was built in 1886, it did not survive the fire, which occurred in 1871.
St Ignatius College Prep. (formerly: St. Ignatius College in 1871)and the Holy Family Church next door are at 1076 W. Roosevelt Rd. The fire started at O'Leary's barn just east a few blocks from there and maybe one block north. The prevailing direction of the spread of the fire due to wind was north and east but the school was in the line of fire as is spread also westward. The fire was so huge that it created its own wind. Father Damen, S.J., who built the school, lit a candle with a prayer that the school and church would survive. That flame still glows in the church. Jyoti...If you were you there on the day of the fire feeling the heat of if in front of the school as it came toward you you might think differently about its "survival".
Just wanted to add that I think the real estate listing I linked to must be wrong about the date the house at 2343 N Cleveland was built. After all, it's a "twin" to the house nextdoor, and the listing for that house says it was built in 1866. It seems unlikely that twin houses would have been built 20 years apart. I think it's a typo (they put 1886, when they meant to put 1866).
As to St. Ignatius, I think Bill '69 makes a very good argument for including it as a Great Fire survivor.
Scotti Cohn -
Thanks for writing! I really appreciate your interest in finding about the twin cottages.
Thanks for the information!
I stand corrected!
But in that case, we have eight survivors of the Great Chicago Fire.. Not seven, that I have read at so many places!
Is anyone absolutely sure which buildings survived the fire?
I have a picture of my great grandparents house 4603 State Street that may have survived the fire. It was post 1871 and the house was made of wood. Could it have been a new structure?
My GGG Grandparents lived on Church/Hudson during the fire and these pictures are extremely interesting to me and my family. Thanks for posting as well as including the pictures of St Michaels where they attended services.
I'm very glad to hear form you. Thanks for sharing..
Why wasn't Mayor Ogden's home listed as one of the survivors?
History says that the wind changed direction and that the Mayor's home was saved from the fire's destruction.
Ned R. Turner
I remember reading that the Ogden home was saved by draping wet rugs on the rooftop of the home
Thanks a lot! I'm doing a paper on the Great Chicago Fire and this is the first website that I've seen that tells about a memorial plaque and about the property the O'Leary's donated to the fire department. (Also a cool fact is if you look down the O'Leary line, you'll see that every O'Leary male has been in the fire department to this day!)
Thanks so much. I lived at 2121 N. Hudson as a child, and it was very nice to see the photos. My mom actually did much of the work restoring the building. Thanks to all those little people doing historical renovation.
I'm surprosed Holy Family Church on Roosevelt was not mentioned. This is also one of the few, historical churches that survived the fire.
The house on the left in this picture has the plaque now at the fire academy. This building was built on the site of the barn:
And the church here survived the fire:
i need facts about the great chicago fire plzzzzz!
Love this website thx for making it
I am looking for info as to fate of 1242, 1244, 1246 Michigan Avenue. These were probably within ten blocks of Terrace Row, which burned. I assume these burned also. Where can I find confirmation of the fate of these residences?
Thanks for your informative site.
Don't forget that the tower of St. James Cathedral survived the fire.
My G G Grandfather Peter Dockendorf lived on North Hudson and would tell my mother about the fire with vivid detail and memory. I believe, but could be wrong, that the fire, based on maps, came within two homes of their house. This blog is excellent and very informative. It brings everything he told my mother to life. Thank you for this.
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