The ordinance of 1787 seemed to indicate that a State in the northern part of the North west Territory west of Lake Michigan should have as its southern boundary a line drawn east and west through the southern extremity of that lake, and the bill for the admission of Illinois was originally drawn accordingly. Mr. Nathaniel Pope, delegate in Congress from the Territory, however, succeeded in having the bill amended so as to secure the present north ern boundary for Illinois. Had this not been done Chicago would be in the State of Wisconsin.
Origin of the City.— In 1830 Chicago was a hamlet of log houses inhabited by something less than a hundred people. These log houses were nearly all on the North and West sides. The beginning of the city as a prosperous town was due to the Illinois and Michigan Canal, authorized by act of Congress in 1827. By this act the State was granted alternate sections of land on both sides of the canal route, and the canal commissioners proceeded to lay out towns and sell lots in order to secure funds. One of these towns was Chicago, at the eastern ter minus of the canal, and the lands platted therein were sold in 1830. The town was bounded on the east by State street, on the north by Kinzie street, on the west by Desplaines street and on the south by Madison street. Buildings began to be erected and slowly immigration began to come. The early settlement of Illinois had been in its southern counties and was derived mostly from southern States. The new migra tion, beginning with 1830, came in the main by way of the lakes and was largely from the east, New York and New England being espe cially represented. In 1833 Con ess made an appropriation for a harbor at Piers were built out into the lake, a channel was cut through the old sandbar and the spring freshets sufficed to scour it out. It was in 1834 that, for the first time, a schooner sailed up the river. By 1837 the town had grown to have a popula tion of 4,170, and in that year it was incor porated as a city.
Early Railroads.— The canal, from which so much was expected, did not prove the won derful success that was hoped. It was not finished till 1848. Meanwhile, however, rail road construction began and opened up the prairie interior of the State, while the applica tion of steam to navigation made it compara tively easy to transport passengers and freight between Chicago and Buffalo. In 1849 the
Galena and Chicago Union Railroad (the begin ning of the present Chicago and Northwestern) was put in operation and in 1852 the Michigan Southern and the Michigan Central railways from the east reached Chicago, and others speedily followed in all directions.
Population and Area.— The growth of the new city in slow at first, finally be came very great. Chicago is now the second city in the United States in population. The area was extended also by successive annexa tions of contiguous territory. Between 1837 and 1915 the city's area increased from 2.55 to 198.997 square miles. The 4,170 people of 1837 became 4,479 in 1840, 28,269 in 1850, 109,206 in 1860, 298,977 in 1870, 503,298 in 1889, 1,099,850 in 1890, 1,698,575 in 1900, 2,185,283 in 1910 and the United States census bureau of 1915 esti mated the population of the city at 2,447,045. Chicago has a very large foreign population. In 1910 there were 781,217 (35.7 per cent of the total population) foreign born persons in the city. Among this number were 182,281 persons born in Germany, 121,786 in Russia, 132,059 in Aus tria-Hungary, 65,463 in Ireland and 63,035 in Sweden. There were also 705,109 persons of native birth with foreign parentage. Only 20.4 per cent of the population, 445,139 persons, were native born of native parentage. The negro population in 1910 was 44,10,3, about 2 per cent of the total.
The Great Fire of 1871.--The year 1871 was memorable for the great fire which swept a large part of Chicago from the earth. Begin ning at a little before 9 o'clock on Sunday evening, 8 October, in a small barn on the West side, the flames spread through all the three sections of the city, and were not finally extinguished until Monday night, 9 October, at 10 o'clock, when a welcome rain fell. The main business and residence portion of the city was devastated. The total area of the burnt district was 2,024 acres, nearly three and a third square miles, and the value of the prop erty destroyed was estimated at $187,000,000. The loss of life can only be conjectured—per haps it amounted to 300 persons. The destitu tion which for a time fell upon the city was relieved with lavish generosity from all parts of this country and of Europe.