Important People, Places and Things of a Large Midwestern City, Past and Present

As the third most populous city in the nation, Chicago is important in a lot of different ways. One of the best things about the city is some of the beautiful homes and the real estate market, which is pretty good and accessible in a decent economy. However, Chicago has been known for much more than just their real estate over the past few years and there are some very interesting things that have happened in the city. In the following paragraphs some of the more important dates, people and places in Chicago over the course of its history will be discussed and recapped.

Starting off with important events, a big one in Chicago’s history was in fact a huge tragedy. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was a massive conflagration that caused devastation to the city. The fire started on October 8th of 1871 and went until October 10th of that same year because of a lack of adequate fire department services at the time. The fire started in the morning, and although nobody knows what caused it there were a number of things that helped it along. For one, the city at the time used lots of wood for their buildings and the wood caught fire very effectively.

Also, the blaze was helped along by the fire department not reacting quickly enough. Although it was obviously a massive tragedy the fire probably helped the city in the long run because locals say that the rebuilding process is what helped Chicago become one of the most well populated and economically important cities in the nation. Also, strangely enough, the fire also was in the inspiration for the name of the Chicago Major League Soccer franchise that is known as the Fire.

One of the more important people in the history of Chicago was in fact a criminal. During the Prohibition Era Chicago was a hub for gang and organized crime activities and there were no gangsters bigger and more famous than Al Capone. Capone was essentially headquartered in Chicago, and smuggled alcohol to people all over the city and destroyed anyone that tried to get in on his business and start their own. Although more known for illegal alcohol sales Capone was also involved in other criminal enterprises such as prostitution and gambling. After years of terrorizing the city, Capone was finally caught and brought to justice on charges of tax evasion and served out a ten year sentence at the now closed Alcatraz prison in San Francisco.

Lastly, one of the more important places in the city of Chicago is Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs Major League Baseball team. Wrigley is one of the oldest ballparks in the sport and was built in 1914 and started being used by the Cubs in 1916. Unfortunately for the team’s fans, the park has not seen a World Series game in 102 years and it does not look like there will be one any time soon.

Chicago is a very important city both to the nation and to the world and will remain that way for a long time in the future.

Important People, Places and Things of a Large Midwestern City, Past and Present