1872 Chicago - Showing the area destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871

A historic antique map of Chicago, published after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. The map is far more common in its original form with each of the twenty wards colored to differentiate their boundaries. This example was recolored by to illustrate the extent of the fire that ravaged much of the downtown and near north districts of the city, which at the time was almost entirely made up of wooden buildings. Upon close examination, we find a single block within the burnt district that appears to have been saved from destruction. At the time of the fire, this block belonged to Malhon Ogden (brother to William B. Ogden, Chicago's first mayor) who lived in a Mansion just north of Washington Square. The open space of Washington Square Park slowed the fire’s advance while those inside took everything made of cloth — curtains, carpets, blankets and sheets — and soaked them in well water and cider in the cellar. Then they wrapped the outside of the house like a mummy and waited out the flames.