A City of Midwestern Novelty
By Audrey Tirtohadiguno · Chicago, USA
“She is novelty; for she is never the Chicago you saw when you passed through the last time. It is hopeless for the occasional visitor to try to keep up with Chicago. She outgrows his prophecies faster than he can make them.” These were the poetic words of Mark Twain in 1883, which continue to ring true for the ever-evolving city centuries after its inception.
This summer, I was lucky to grow acquainted with the city of Chicago for the first time. For those who have never set foot in the city or even for the frequent caller, reading about some of the historic narratives that have physically and conceptually embedded themselves into Chicago’s urban fabric may shed light upon its multi-faceted character today.
Born as a settlement with a population of less than two hundred, the land where Chicago is now located first caught the eye of Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, a pioneer from Santo Domingo who settled on the banks of the Chicago River in the 1780s. Soon after the area was established as a trading post, voyagers began to grow attracted. In 1833, the area was declared a town, and in 1837 a city. Due in part to its proximity to water, the ideal location naturally evolved into a thriving water transit hub and drew populations from the Midwest by both land and sea.

Chicago’s present iconic skyline bears roots in the city plans and landscape designs that were drawn for it in the nineteenth century. Back then, the city streets were paved with granite, asphalt and cedar blocks. Michigan Avenue ran south from the river and joined with boulevards lined with trees, shrubbery, grass plots and parks. Horse-drawn carriages frequented the streets, of which splendor reflected the city’s wealth and booming economy. Bearing the famous Water Tower at its head, a water system was constructed in 1869, delivering 2,750 gallons to households through its pipes with each stroke and became an attraction to visitors. Parks also proliferated the city and served as “breathing places,” enjoyed by people from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds. Douglass Park and Garfield Park stretched for hundreds of acres on the West Side, with a lake, boat landing, pavilion, fountains, bridges, foot-ways, lawns and flowers punctuating its beauty. Lincoln Park on the North Side ran over and under bridges, drawing thousands of people every day. Today, these parks remain a distinguishing characteristic of Chicago’s natural abundance; Lincoln Park, Millennium Park and Grant Park are just a few examples that demonstrate how the city maintains a close relationship to the natural environment.
Now turning to Chicago’s contemporary architectural evolution, a certain tour guide’s personification comes to mind. Perched at the head of the tour boat wearing a bright yellow life preserver, she poetically described, “The buildings lean into one another. Much like their architects, they speak to one another.” Thanks to its closeness to the river, Chicago has also long been recognized as a center for artistic exchange, facilitating architectural innovation and experimentation. Voices of notable architects in the past included Mies van der Rohe and Louis Sullivan. Their various architectural styles — Ranging from Art Deco, Art Nouveau, City Beautiful to Modernist — chime into a collective voice that echoes throughout the city’s skyline and integrates with the river almost seamlessly. Along the riverwalk, splashes of turquoise, blue and yellow hues shimmer against glass facades that blend into a watercolor feast for the eyes, while in the city center, contemporary giants like the Neo-Gothic Tribune Tower, the Inland Steel Building and the jade green Carbide & Carbon Building represent their respective industries’ glory days with hints of nostalgia.

Of the notable stories that mark Chicago’s past, “The Great Chicago Fire of 1871” remains one of the most legendary, perhaps due to the swiftness at which the city was destroyed by flames, then rebuilt to glorifying heights by investors and architects. While the precise cause of the fire remains debatable, reality saw the fire grow to an inferno that destroyed three and a half square miles of the city and leveled more than 18,000 structures. Swept under the torrent of flames that engulfed an area four miles long and an average of three-quarters of a mile wide, one-third of Chicago’s residents lost their homes and at least 300 perished during this time.
As often occurs in moments of tragedy, journalistic and literary accounts pounced at the opportunity to produce work inspired by the aftermath of the fire — In a dramatic scene from John McGovern’s novel, Daniel Trentworthy: A Tale of the Great Fire of Chicago (1889), an editor commands his reporters, “All sit here and write whatever comes into your heads!” “It was the completeness of the wreck,” wrote local journalists Elias Colbert and Everett Camberlin, “the total desolation which met the eye on every hand; the utter blankness of what had a few hours before been so full of life, of associations, of aspirations, of all things which kept the mind of a Chicagoan so constantly crowded.” Meanwhile, H.A. Musham, one of the first authors to document the disaster, wrote, “So sudden was the visitation, so complete the destruction it achieved, and so magnificently awesome the spectacle it presented to the frightened people, that it etched an indelible though blurred impression on their minds — a picture which time was never able to erase.” Due to the substantial media coverage that the fire commanded, an immense outpouring of literature ensued; Staggering volumes of books, poetry and journalistic reports inspired by the event have become embedded as a distinct chapter in Chicago’s historic literature today.
In the years following the great fire, Chicago rapidly rebuilt herself with demonstrated grace and prowess. Supported by national and international charity and investment, the city literally rose from the ashes and firmly reinstated itself as a place of commercial importance and architectural improvement in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Within a year, visible remnants of the destruction were erased and the city regained its reputation of opportunity, renewal and future promise. Alongside rapid property development, the population grew steadily: From 1853 to 1863 it increased over two hundred per cent; from 1863 to 1873 more than doubled, from 1873 to 1887 about one hundred percent, further fueled by waves of immigration.
The year 1963 saw the completion of the O’Hare Airport, which opened Chicago’s doors to foreign tourists and investors for the first time. Now, millions of people are able to flock to the city to see its vast array of attractions each year — Some of the most recent being the Cloud Gate in Millennium Park, Navy Pier and the Shedd Aquarium. These destinations offer just a glimpse into the city’s complex history, diverse culture and prolific arts scene. Meanwhile, manufacturing, printing, publishing and food processing maintain firm footholds in the city’s economy, as evinced by the glassy headquarters of globally recognized companies that occupy Chicago’s financial district, also known as The Loop. Recently, the Chicago Housing Authority has also been working with the suburbs to provide affordable housing targeted at minority residents who wish to relocate through gentrification efforts.
Riding along waves of booms and busts, Chicago has consistently risen above many challenges in history to be recognized as one of the most culturally robust and historically rich cities in the world today. While it has come far from the industrial city Carl Sandburg describes in 1914 — “Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with / Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation” — fragments of the “Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders” he describes remain undeniably carved into the city’s thick-skinned character. As Chicago continues to live up to its historic precedence as a dynamic nexus of cultural, intellectual, technological and financial interchange, one can only wonder how she will continue to reinvent herself in future years to come.
About the writer
Audrey Tirtohadiguno is from Jakarta, Indonesia.
About Guac
Guac is an award-winning travel publication run by an interdisciplinary group of students at Cornell University. We aim to inspire our readers to celebrate cultural diversity and view the world with an open mind through delivering unique stories from people around the world.
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