Seven buildings that survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871.

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..

The plaque reads ..
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

One can walk into the hall of the Chicago Fire Academy and see the site of Mrs O'Leary's Home, which is marked with a plaque..
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...

Since 1956, Chicago Fire Academy, a training facility for Chicago firefighters has been located at the site of the origin of the Great Chicago fire..

The Great Chicago Fire [Oct 8- 10, 1871]..
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 ...

Twin buildings:
2339 N Cleveland [left].. and.. 2323 N Cleveland [right]..

2121 N Hudson building..
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..
click here..

Some pre-fire buildings..

• Clarke House..
• St. Ignatius College Prep Bldg.

The Clarke House..
is considered the oldest surviving domestic structure in Chicago.
Address: 1855 S. Indiana Ave.
Year Built: Circa 1836
Architect: Unknown
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: October 14, 1970.
# For more, click here..

St. Ignatius College Prep Building..
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..

Armitage-Halsted District

Click on the image for enlarged view ...
Images above and below: Street view of Armitage Avenue..





Image above: Halsted street view ...

Armitage-Halsted District ..
Addresses: Armitage Avenue between Halsted Street and Racine Avenue ... and ... Halsted Street between Armitage Avenue and Webster Street ...
Year Built: circa 1870 to 1930
Architects: Various
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: February 5, 2003 ..

These two streets in the Lincoln Park community area form one of the finest nineteenth-century neighborhood commercial streetscapes remaining in Chicago. The district contains an excellent cross-section of residential and commercial building types significant in the development of such streets, including small residential buildings and larger, multi-story mixed-use buildings.

The area is especially noteworthy for the profusion of pressed-metal decoration, including bays, cornices, and corner turrets, on many of the buildings. Together, the district's buildings form an important streetscape that exemplifies the importance of neighborhood shopping streets to the history of Chicago.

REF: Chicago Landmarks: Armitage-Halsted District ....



Image above: Armitage Avenue view ...

While looking for information on this landmark district, I came across a very interesting website ... Actually it's a Public Notice by the The Armitage Halsted Landmark Committee ... and it enlists guidelines for the district's facade and signages ... click here ..
Like one of the guideline reads .. Signs should be viewed as part of an overall graphics system for the building ... They do not have to do all the “work” by themselves ... .. and then there's an example of sign with Traditional Appearance: Old Town School of Folk Music on Armitage ... below is the image of this ...



Image above: Armitage Avenue view .. with the signage "Old Town School of Folk Music" ... which follows the Armitage Halsted Landmark Committee guidelines ...

# For more on Armitage Halsted district.. click here..

Armitage-Halsted District

Graffiti on the railaway station, Armitage Street ...
# This post is contined from the above post on Armitage-Halsted district.. click here..



St. Teresa Church ... on Armitage Street ..











Graffiti on the walls of Cafe Bernard ... on Halsted Street ..

# This post is contined from the above post on Armitage-Halsted district.. click here..

McCormick Row House District

Image above: W Belden street view ...



Image above: W. Chalmers street view ...
Image below: W. Fullerton street view ...



McCormick Row House District ...
Address: 800-block of W. Chalmers; 832-58 W. Belden; 833-927 W. Fullerton
Year Built: 1884-89 ..
Architect: Colton and Sons ..
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark:May 4, 1977 ..



The plaque reads:
"These row houses were built as an investment for the McCormick Theological Seminary, which was located in this vicinity from 1863 to 1975. Designed in a simplified Queen Anne style, with a private street and park in the center of the development, these houses are a fine example of late-19th century residential architecture and planning.
Designated a Chicago Landmark on May 4, 1977
by the City Council of Chicago
Michael A Bilandic, Mayor
Commission on Chicago Historical and Architectural Landmarks .."




A closer look at the facade on Chalmers Avenue ...



A look at the backyard ...



Entrance to Chalmers Avenue seemed to be somewhat restricted as there were gates on both the Fullerton Avenue and Belden Avenue ...

REF: Chicago Landmarks: McCormick Row House District ... click here ...

Although all the photographs are all taken by me, but when I write description I usually stick with information from official sites, and I always link the reference site .. However, I think that I should start adding my personal experience in visiting these places.

Interestingly, when googling on McCormick Row House District, I coudnt gather any information beyond what is written on the plaque... which is strange, as this seemed quite an interesting place to me ... If anyone has more information on this place, please do write ...



Here's another streetview of the Belden Avenue ...

Biograph Theater

Biograph Theater
Address: 2433-43 N. Lincoln Ave.
Year Built: 1914
Architect: Samuel N. Crowen
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: March 28, 2001 ..

The Biograph Theater is also one of Chicago's oldest remaining neighborhood movie houses. It was designed in 1914 by Samuel N. Crowen, an architect known for his classically detailed designs. The Biograph Theater possesses many of the distinguishing characteristics of the earliest movie houses, including a simple storefront-width lobby, recessed entrance, free-standing ticket booth, and canopy marquee. The building is finished with red pressed brick and white-glazed terra cotta, and its construction typifies the first-generation movie houses whose architectural style gave legitimacy and respectability to the fledgling motion picture industry ...

Perhaps best known for its historical connection to the infamous gangster John Dillinger, who was killed here by the FBI.

RED: Chicago Landmarks: Biograph Theater ... click here ...

Burling Row House District

Burling Row House District ...
Address: 2225-2245 N. Burling Street ..
Year Built: 1875
Architect: Edward J. Burling ..
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: November 15, 2000 ..



The plaque reads ... "One of the city's best surviving row house grouping's from the period after the Chicago Fire of 1871, they were among the first buildings constructed after a city ordinance required "fireproof" masonry construction citywide. They are significant examples of the Italianate style, which dominated Chicago architecture between the Civil War and the late-1870's. Their designers was one of the city's earliest and most important architects.
Designated on November 15, 2000 ...
Richard M Daley, Mayor
Commission on Chicago landmarks"...



Since these houses were designed as a unit, the row houses have an exceptional architectural unity with common setbacks, scale, and height. They are further distinguished for their fine window ornament and a very rare, intact wooden cornice that all ten houses share ... In the above image we also see the original "pent-style" porch roof ...

REF: Chicago Landmarks: Burling Row House District ... click here ...

What's a pent roof???
They were rather common on the early homes but now they’re almost extinct. A pent roof is a small single-slope roof that is attached to a house just above the first floor’s windows and doors. It’s self supporting, without posts, columns or brackets. It sheds water away from the home’s foundation and main level windows and doors and also shades windows from direct sun, like a modern awning.

Mid North District

View Larger Map

Mid North District ...
Address: Bounded by W Fullerton Pkwy in north, W Armitage Ave in south, N Clark St in east and N Lincoln Ave in west ...
Year Built: 1865-1900
Architect: Various
Date Designated a Chicago Landmark: August 31, 1977 ...



At the intersection of W Grant Pl and N Sedgwick St..
this plaque reads ...
"Chicago Landmark
Mid-North District
This area, with its concentration of brick rowhouses, is typical of urban residential communities developed during the last three decades of the 19th century. The high quality of it's architecture, well-preserved and well maintained, gives the Mid-North District, it's distinctive character.
Designated a Chicago landmark on August 31, 1977
by the City Council of Chicago.
Michael A Bilandic, Mayor.
Commission on Chicago Historic and Architectural landmarks."









Above images.. brick rowhouses along N Sedgwick street...



A marker at the intersection of W Fullerton Pkwy and N Cleveland Ave reads ..
Mid North District..
The streets feature a cross-section of architecural styles and building types from the late 19th-century, including pre-Fire of 1871 wood cottages, Italianate-style rowhouses and masonry residences designed in Queen Anne and Richardsonian Romanesque styles.





Above two images..
- 506 W Fullerton Avenue..
- 514 W Fullerton Avenue..





Above two images ..
Three wooden-cottages that Survived the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 ...
- Twin buildings, 2339 N Cleveland..&.. 2343 N Cleveland..
- 2121 N Hudson building





2333 N Cleveland Avenue..
2317 & 2319 N Cleveland Avenue..





# Two buildings designed by Louis Sullivan..
- Leon Mannheimer House ...
Address: 2147 N Cleveland building ...
Completed: 1884
Designed by Louis Sullivan ...

- Ann Halsted House ...
Address: 440 West Belden Avenue building ...
Completed: 1883 ..
Architect: Louis Sullivan .. for Dankmar Adler and Co...

While the residences from the 1870s were designed in an Italianate style, with elaborate cornices and window surrounds. The Queen Anne style, with its variety of colors, textures, and details, later gained popularity in the district, followed in the 1880s by the rough-faced stone buildings of the Romanesque Revival style.





Above two images ..
- Queen Anne style building in N Sedgwick street...
- Italianate style building in N. Sedgwick street..
These two buildings are on N. Sedgwick street between W Webster Ave and W Dickens Ave..





Above two images..
- This beautiful building is at the intersection of N. Sedgwick St and W Dickens Ave..
- A building on N. Sedgwick St
Both the buildings are on N Sedgwick St, between W. Dickens Ave and W Armitage Ave..







I have always liked this building [310 W Dickens Ave] at the intersection of N Clark Street and W Dickens Ave.. Wonder if this cow is from the Cow Parade in Chicago?



Site of St. Valentine Day massacre..
2122 N Clark street is the site of the infamous Valentine day massacre when seven members of the Bugs Moran gang were line and killed, supposedly by members of Al Capone gang.
# For more.. click here..