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Ancestry.com - Earth, Wind, and the Great Chicago Fire

Article by Jennifer Browning.

Chicago Imagebase

Find a wealth of information at this site from before the Great Fire of 1871 to the present including the Fire Insurance Maps of Chicago, Robinson Atlases of Downtown Chicago (ca. 1886), Sanborn Atlas Maps, Rand McNally's Bird's-Eye Views and Guide to Chicago (ca. 1893), Historical View Books, and much more! Browse the imagebase collection by artist/architect, building and era. Find information on Using Historical Maps and Dating Buildings by Stylistic Analysis. View contemporary aerial views (ca. 1986) and photographs 1970-1990's of Chicago.

Chicago Landmarks - Your House Has A History

Chicago Timeline - Chicago Public Library

Chicagology

A pictorial and editorial history of early Chicago.

Deaths, Disturbances, Disasters & Disorders in Chicago

Select bibliography of materials from the Chicago Public Library.

Early Cook County Roads - Part 1

German Culture on the Skids: How World War I Changed German Culture in America

Article by Rickie Lazzerini. Chicago, the most German city in America at the time of the First World War, hosted a plethora of German-language newspapers and clubs. Because of this, Chicago, and other parts of Illinois, became a hotbed of anti-German sentiment. Germaniphobia went beyond place name changes and took on a violent and sinister tone when Robert Prager, a German immigrant who was thought to be disloyal, was hanged by a mob in Collinsville, Illinois. The state of Illinois provides a small-scale setting to witness how the war led to the downfall of German culture in America.

Jazz Age Chicago - Chicago History Internet Links

Part 2

The Chicago Tunnel Company Railroad

Learn all about a 60 mile underground railroad that operated with 146 locomotives and 3000 freight cars 40 feet below the streets of downtown Chicago.

The Encyclopedia of Chicago

From the Chicago History Museum, The Newberry Library, and Northwestern University.

The Great Chicago Fire and the Web of Memory