1871 Chicago As It Is, Showing the Burnt District
DESCRIPTION
A scarce map of Chicago Showing the Burnt District, published immediately after the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. With bold red shading marking the devastated core of the city, the map graphically illustrates the scale of destruction from one of the most famous urban disasters in American history.
Cartographic Detail
The map presents a detailed street grid of Chicago, extending from Lincoln Park in the north to Hyde Park in the south, and westward to the Union Stock Yards and Brighton Trotting Park. Major streets, wards, railroads, and civic landmarks are all identified. The portion of the city destroyed by the fire is shaded in bright red, encompassing the central business district, much of the Near North Side, and the lakefront northward into Lincoln Park. The title block also highlights Chicago’s explosive population growth from 29,963 in 1850, to 109,263 in 1860, and to 298,977 in 1870, contextualizing how rapidly the city had developed in the two decades leading up to the catastrophe.
Historical Context of the Map
This map was produced in direct response to the Great Fire of October 1871, serving as both a visual record of the disaster and a tool for understanding its urban impact. By shading the “Burnt District” in vivid contrast, it provided an immediate picture of what had been lost and where rebuilding was required. The copyright attribution to Gaylord Watson, a prolific New York map publisher known for quickly producing event-driven maps and atlases, indicates that the map was intended not only for local use but also for wide circulation to a national audience. In this way, it functioned as a piece of visual news, underscoring the disaster’s significance and the resilience of a city already preparing to rebuild.
Maps depicting the Great Chicago Fire are highly sought after, particularly those issued in 1871 while the disaster was fresh in public memory. While institutional collections preserve a handful of examples, they are uncommon on the market. This edition, with its sharp red overlay of the destroyed area, clear population statistics, and imprint of Gaylord Watson, stands out as an iconic visual record with a scarce survival.
CONDITION
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