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The Chicago metropolitan area, also referred to as the Greater Chicago Area and Chicagoland, is the largest metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Illinois, containing the City of Chicago along with its surrounding suburbs and satellite cities.
- City of Chicago
Chicago. / 41.88194°N 87.62778°W / 41.88194; -87.62778....
- Chicagoland (Disambiguation)
Chicagoland is the Chicago metropolitan area.. Chicagoland...
- City of Chicago
Oct 12, 2018 · In 1833, Chicago was a wilderness outpost of just 350 residents, clumped around a small military fort on soggy land where the Chicago River trickled into Lake Michigan. The site was known to...
- Pre-1830
- Growth of The City
- 20th Century
- 21st Century
- Flag
- Major Disasters
- List of Mayors
- See Also
- Further Reading
- External Links
Early native settlements
At its first appearance in records by explorers, the Chicago area was inhabited by a number of Algonquian peoples, including the Mascouten and Miami. The name "Chicago" is derived from a French rendering of the Native American word shikaakwa, known to botanists as Allium tricoccum, from the Miami-Illinois language. The first known reference to the site of the current city of Chicago as "Checagou" was by Robert de LaSalle around 1679 in a memoir. Henri Joutel, in his journal of 1688, noted tha...
First non-native settlements
The first settler in Chicago was Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, a Frenchman of European and African descent, who built a farm at the mouth of the Chicago River in 1788 to 1790 (exact date unknown). He left Chicago in 1800. In 1968, Point du Sable was honored at Pioneer Courtas the city's founder and featured as a symbol. In 1795, following the Northwest Indian War, some Native Americans ceded the area of Chicago to the United States for a military post in the Treaty of Greenville. The US built...
In 1829, the Illinois legislature appointed commissioners to locate a canal and lay out the surrounding town. The commissioners employed James Thompson to survey and platthe town of Chicago, which at the time had a population of less than 100. Historians regard the August 4, 1830, filing of the plat as the official recognition of a location known a...
Chicago's manufacturing and retail sectors, fostered by the expansion of railroads throughout the upper Midwest and East, grew rapidly and came to dominate the Midwest and greatly influence the nation's economy. The Chicago Union Stock Yards dominated the packing trade. Chicago became the world's largest rail hub, and one of its busiest ports by sh...
In September 2008, Chicago accepted a $2.52 billion bid on a 99-year lease of Midway International Airport to a group of private investors, but the deal fell through due to the collapse of credit markets during the 2008–2012 global recession In 2008, as Chicago struggled to close a growing budget deficit, the city agreed to a 75-year, $1.16 billion...
Four historical events are commemorated by the four red stars on Chicago's flag: The United States' Fort Dearborn, established at the mouth of the Chicago River in 1803; the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which destroyed much of the city; the World Columbian Exposition of 1893, by which Chicago celebrated its recovery from the fire; and the Century of...
The most famous and serious disaster was the Great Chicago Fireof 1871. On December 30, 1903, the "absolutely fireproof", five-week-old Iroquois Theaterwas engulfed by fire. The fire lasted less than thirty minutes; 602 people died as a result of being burned, asphyxiated, or trampled. The S.S. Eastland was a cruise ship based in Chicago and used f...
Between 1833 and 1837, Chicago was incorporated as a town and headed by town presidents. Since 1837, it has been incorporated as a city and headed by mayors. The mayoral term in Chicago was one year from 1837 through 1863, when it was changed to two years. In 1907, it was changed again, this time to four years. Until 1861, municipal elections were ...
Ethnic groups in Chicago; the larger groups have articles such as Poles in Chicago and History of African Americans in ChicagoFor many topics the easiest way to start is with Janice L. Reiff, Ann Durkin Keating and James R. Grossman, eds. The Encyclopedia of Chicago(2004), with thorough coverage by scholars in 1120 pages of text, maps and photos. 1. Abu-Lughod, Janet L. New York, Chicago, Los Angeles: America's global cities (U of Minnesota Press, 1999). ISBN 978-0-8166-3...
Encyclopedia of Chicago (2004), comprehensive coverage of city and suburbs, past and presentThe Chicago metropolitan area, or Chicagoland, is the metropolitan area that includes the city of Chicago, Illinois, and its suburbs, spanning 13 counties in northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana. The population is about 9.5 million people. It is the third largest metropolitan area in the United States.
Chicago - History: Chicago’s critical location on the water route linking the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River shaped much of its early history. It was populated by a series of Native tribes who maintained villages in the forested areas near rivers. Beginning with Father Jacques Marquette and French Canadian explorer Louis Jolliet in 1673, a steady stream of explorers and missionaries ...
The Chicago metropolitan area, or Chicagoland, is the metropolitan area that includes the city of Chicago, Illinois, and its suburbs, spanning 13 counties in northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana.
