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Bird's-Eye View of the Business District |
Visitors soon looked upon a new Chicago that a local journalist described as "better classified, and its future more distinctly marked, than could have been possible before the fire." The flames had spurred changes already in progress in the pre-fire city by clearing the way for the doubling of the size of the downtown and the construction of taller buildings in this area, as well as a more distinct division of location of businesses by type. Commercial and residential districts likewise became more sharply separated from each other, as Chicagoans of all income levels moved further from the central city and into neighborhoods which were in turn more clearly distinguished from one another than they had been previously. What was called the "Great Rebuilding" involved more than physical reconstruction. Mayor Mason set Sunday, October 29, "as a special day of humiliation and prayer; of humiliation for those past offenses against Almighty God, to which these severe afflictions were doubtless intended to lead our minds; of prayer for the relief and comfort of the suffering thousands in our midst; for the restoration of our material prosperity, especially for our lasting improvement as a people in reverence and obedience to God." At the same time such occasions tended to the soul of the city, others focused on its political well-being. In the November mayoral election, Chicagoans voted in Tribune co-owner Joseph Medill on a Union Fire Proof ticket pledged to stricter building codes. |
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Finishing the Roof of the Chamber of Commerce |
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