In 1972, my ex-wife, Bonita, and I bought a brand new Fiat 124 Sport Coupe and embarked on a fabulous three-week cross country adventure. On the way back from California, we stopped off in Chicago, our first time there. I remember seeing the Sears Tower from the street level.
About 1990, we returned to the Chicago area for a family bar mitzvah. In actuality, it took place in the suburb of Evanston. The highlight of the trip was the temporary disappearance of my son Bret (at a Toys "R" Us).
A couple of years later, I took Bret to Chicago to see a baseball game at the historic Wrigley Field, home of the Cubs. I was afraid they were going to tear it down and I wanted my son to see it before they did. They didn't and they haven't.
In 2007, while working for the Office of Sponsored Research at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I attended a seminar at another Chicago suburb (Northbrook). One evening while there, some of my colleagues and I went to Comiskey Park in downtown Chicago to see the White Sox play baseball.
A few years ago, Cristina and I flew to Chicago from Sao Paulo in order to visit my son Bret who was in nearby South Bend, Indiana on business for the LPGA. We were there for only a few hours before we rented a car and left the windy city. But, we had a great lunch at Labriola's.
On October 8, 1871 (about one hundred fifty years ago), a fire started at about 8:30 PM in Chicago "in or around a small barn that bordered the alley behind 137 DeKoven Street. The shed next to the barn was the first building to be consumed by the fire."
"City officials never determined the cause of the blaze, but the rapid spread of the fire due to a long drought in that year's summer, strong winds from the southwest, and the rapid destruction of the water pumping system, explain the extensive damage of the mainly wooden city structures."
"The fire destroyed an area about 4 miles (6 km) long and averaging 3⁄4 mile (1 km) wide, encompassing an area of more than 2,000 acres. Destroyed were more than 73 miles (117 km) of roads, 120 miles (190 km) of sidewalk, 2,000 lampposts, 17,500 buildings, and $222 million in property, which was about a third of the city's valuation in 1871."
"Of the approximately 324,000 inhabitants of Chicago in 1871, 90,000 Chicago residents (1 in 3 residents) were left homeless. 120 bodies were recovered, but the death toll may have been as high as 300. The county coroner speculated that an accurate count was impossible."
I'm glad my first visit to Chicago was 101 years later.
An accurate count was impossible? I wonder why.
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