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The Great Chicago Fire and Heavy Timber Construction

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Fire Resistance in American Heavy Timber Construction

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Abstract

This chapter will examine the growth and development of Chicago and the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Chicago has long served as a trendsetter and the gateway for architectural breakthroughs in the Midwest. Moreover, the Great Chicago Fire served as a seminal moment in heavy timber construction’s developmental history. While the devastating fire spurred the development of new fire-resistant building technologies, it also ushered in a regional building boom of heavy timber construction.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Owens, L. L. Owens, The Great Chicago Fire , (Edina: ABDO Pub., 2008), pp. 21–22.

  2. 2.

    Owens, p. 22.

  3. 3.

    Owens, p. 24.

  4. 4.

    Owens, p. 24.

  5. 5.

    Owens, p. 24.

  6. 6.

    Owens, p. 24.

  7. 7.

    Owens, p. 25.

  8. 8.

    Frank A. Randall, History of the Development of Building Construction in Chicago, (Champaign: University of Illinois, 1999), p. 8.

  9. 9.

    Charles Waldheim, Katerina Rüedi, Chicago Architecture: Histories, Revisions, Alternatives, (Chicago: University of Chicago, 2005), p. 56.

  10. 10.

    Sally Ann McMurry, Annmarie Adams, People, Power, Places, (Knoxville: University of Tennessee, 2000), p. 14.

  11. 11.

    McMurry, p. 14.

  12. 12.

    Randall, p. 8–9.

  13. 13.

    Randall, p. 9.

  14. 14.

    ‘Test of Fire-Proof Flooring’ Railway Times, 5 December 1868, p. 388.

  15. 15.

    Owens, p. 26.

  16. 16.

    Owens, p. 27.

  17. 17.

    Owens, p. 27.

  18. 18.

    Owens, p. 27.

  19. 19.

    ‘The Fire Fiend.’ The New York Times, 8 October 1871, p. 5.

  20. 20.

    Owens, p. 28.

  21. 21.

    Owens, p. 31.

  22. 22.

    Owens, p. 32.

  23. 23.

    ‘The Very Latest.’ The New York Times, 10 October 1871, pp. 1.

  24. 24.

    Owens, p. 39.

  25. 25.

    ‘The Chicago Calamity.’ The New York Times, 21 October 1871, p. 11.

  26. 26.

    ‘Chicago: Curious Effects of the Heat of the Conflagration.’ The New York Times, 17 November 1871, p. 2.

  27. 27.

    Jo Ann Rayfield, ‘Tragedy in the Chicago Fire and Triumph in the Architectural Response.’ Northern Illinois University Library. Northern Illinois University, (1997).

  28. 28.

    ‘Chicago: Progress in Clearing Away the Rubbish at the Burnt District.’ The New York Times, 8 November 1871, p. 6.

  29. 29.

    ‘Chicago: Curious Effects of the Heat of the Conflagration.’ The New York Times, 17 November 1871, p. 2.

  30. 30.

    ‘Chicago: Progress in Clearing Away the Rubbish at the Burnt District.’ The New York Times, 8 November 1871, p. 6.

  31. 31.

    ‘Mayor Medill: His Inaugural Message to the New Council of Chicago.’ The New York Times, 8 December 1871, p. 2.

  32. 32.

    ‘The Secret of Fire-Proof Construction.’ The New York Times, 26 November 1871, p. 4.

  33. 33.

    Alice Sinkevitch, Laurie McGovern Petersen, AIA Guide to Chicago, (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1993), p. 5.

  34. 34.

    ‘Chicago: High Rates of Insurance—Bad Faith of Insurance Companies.’ The New York Times, 11 November 1871, p. 4.

  35. 35.

    ‘The City of Chicago: Slow Progress of Rebuilding.’ The New York Times, 8 December 1871, p. 2.

  36. 36.

    ‘Fire-Proof Cities.’ Every Saturday: A Journal of Choice Reading, 4 November 1871, p. 434.

  37. 37.

    ‘The Risk of Buildings from Fire.’ Scientific American, XXVII.11 (1872), p. 165.

  38. 38.

    ‘The Secret of Fire-Proof Construction.’ The New York Times, 26 November 1871, p. 4.

  39. 39.

    Sinkevitch, p. 5.

  40. 40.

    ‘Chicago: Progress in Clearing Away the Rubbish at the Burnt District.’The New York Times, 8 November 1871, p. 6.

  41. 41.

    Rayfield (1997).

  42. 42.

    ‘Rebuilding Chicago.’ The New York Times, 29 November 1871, p. 2.

  43. 43.

    Randall, p. 10.

  44. 44.

    ‘Fire-Proof Buildings—Views of the Sculptor, Powers.’ The New York Times, 30 December 1871, p. 4

  45. 45.

    Carl W. Condit, The Chicago School of Architecture: A History of Commercial and Public Building in the Chicago Area, 1875–1925, (Chicago: University of Chicago, 1966), p. 23.

  46. 46.

    Randall, p. 12.

  47. 47.

    Fred T. Hodgson, Light and Heavy Timber Framing Made Easy; Balloon Framing, Mixed Framing, Heavy Timber Framing, Houses, Factories, Bridges, Barns, Rinks, Timber-Roofs, and All Other Kinds of Timber Buildings, (Chicago: F.J. Drake, 1909), pp. 167–169.

  48. 48.

    City of Chicago, Landmark Designation Report, (Chicago: Commission on Chicago Historical and Architectural Landmarks, 1984).

  49. 49.

    Denis R. McNamara and James Morris, Heavenly City: The Architectural Tradition of Catholic Chicago, (Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 2005), p. 12.

  50. 50.

    A. T. Andreas, History of Chicago: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, (Chicago: A.T. Andreas, 1884), p. 294.

  51. 51.

    Robert P. Ledermann, State Street: One Brick at a Time, (Charleston: History Press, 2011), p. 20.

References

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  • 1871. Chicago: Curious Effects of the Heat of the Conflagration. The New York Times, November 17.

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  • 1871. Chicago: High Rates of Insurance—Bad Faith of Insurance Companies. The New York Times, November 11, p. 4.

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  • 1871. Chicago: Progress in Clearing Away the Rubbish at the Burnt District. The New York Times, November 8, p. 6.

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  • Condit, Carl W. 1966. The Chicago School of Architecture: A History of Commercial and Public Building in the Chicago Area, 1875–1925. Chicago: University of Chicago.

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  • 1871. Fire-Proof Cities. Every Saturday: A Journal of Choice Reading, November 4, p. 434.

    Google Scholar 

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  • McMurry, Sally Ann, and Annmarie Adams. 2000. People, Power, Places. Knoxville: University of Tennessee.

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  • McNamara, Denis R., and James Morris. 2005. Heavenly City: The Architectural Tradition of Catholic Chicago. Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications.

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    Google Scholar 

  • Sinkevitch, Alice, and Laurie McGovern Petersen. 1993. AIA Guide to Chicago. New York: Harcourt Brace.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chaska, MN, USA

    Jesse Heitz

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Heitz, J. (2016). The Great Chicago Fire and Heavy Timber Construction. In: Fire Resistance in American Heavy Timber Construction. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32128-8_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32128-8_3

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