After T H E F I R E
Hinsdale Magazine | History
by Julie Jonlich
Chicago Water Tower and Chicago Avenue Pumping Station – 806 N. Michigan Ave. “The flames from this time spread with such rapidity that the whole neighborhood for blocks around became a ‘sea of fire’, thus at about 3 o’clock in the morning of the 9th of October the pumping works became an utter wreck, nothing but the naked walls of the building and blackened skeletons of three engines were left to mark the spot from whence only a few hours before flowed millions of gallons of pure water for the comfort and convenience of our citizens”. – City engineer (and later mayor) DeWitt Clinton Creiger PHOTO COURTESY CHICAGO HISTORY MUSEUM
lot has changed in 150 years since that warm, windy autumn night in a small barn behind 137 De Koven St. (now 558 W. De Koven St., and current home of the Chicago Fire Department Quinn Fire Academy) which changed the course of Chicago’s history. Here’s a look at some of the surviving structures from the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. HINSDALE MAGAZINE | HinsdaleMag.com
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