Chicago re-examines its origin story 150 years after the great fire
What does the city’s creation myth reveal about its history?
ON OCTOBER 8th 1871 Catherine O’Leary’s cow kicked over a lantern and sparked the fire that incinerated one-third of Chicago—or so legend has it. The story of the blaze and Chicago’s triumphant rebuilding is often retold with more than a dash of Whiggish inevitability: the fire was the catalyst by which Chicago became America’s commodity capital. But this year, on the 150th anniversary of the great fire, Chicagoans are looking anew at their city’s creation myth, and finding the truth to be much more compelling.
This article appeared in the United States section of the print edition under the headline “From the ashes”
United States October 9th 2021
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