Chicago 1833
Shot from: Chicago Historical Society
Project: Taking Measures Across Chicago
Application: Photoshop / QuarkXPress / Acrobat
1833 Incorporated as a Town - Origin of Name
On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was incorporated with a population of 350. Incorporation was enabled by an act of the legislature, passed February 12, 1831, which provided that any community of over 150 inhabitants was authorized to incorporate as a town, with limits not to exceed one square mile in extent.
The first boundaries of the new town were Kinzie, Desplaines, Madison, and State streets, which included an area of about three-eighths of a square mile.
The name "Chicago" derived from the Indians but it is not known which tribe named the town and many theories have been advanced to explain the origin of the name. One generally accepted is that the name comes from the Indian words for either wild onion or skunk, but some historians believe that the word Chicago denoted "strong" or "great." Dr. William Barry, first secretary of the Chicago Historical Society, wrote, "Whatever may have been the etymological meaning of the word Chicago in its practical use, it probably denoted strong or great. The Indians applied this term to the Mississippi River, to thunder, or to the voice of the great Manitou." M. M. Quaife in his book Checagou asserts that the significance of the name was anything great or powerful.
The origin of the "Windy City" nickname is a bit more obscure. It is based not on the wind velocity, but on loud and windy boosterism. In the early part of the nineteenth century, Chicago promoters went up and down the East Coast loudly promoting Chicago as an excellent place to invest. Detractors claimed they were full of wind. Later, Chicago and New York were competing to hold the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Charles A. Dana, editor of the New York Sun, wrote an editorial advising against the "nonsensical claims of that windy city. Its people could not hold a world's fair even if they won it." This editorial is widely credited with popularizing the "Windy City" nickname.
Chicago 1833
Shot from: Chicago Historical Society
Project: Taking Measures Across Chicago
Application: Photoshop / QuarkXPress / Acrobat
1833 Incorporated as a Town - Origin of Name
On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was incorporated with a population of 350. Incorporation was enabled by an act of the legislature, passed February 12, 1831, which provided that any community of over 150 inhabitants was authorized to incorporate as a town, with limits not to exceed one square mile in extent.
The first boundaries of the new town were Kinzie, Desplaines, Madison, and State streets, which included an area of about three-eighths of a square mile.
The name "Chicago" derived from the Indians but it is not known which tribe named the town and many theories have been advanced to explain the origin of the name. One generally accepted is that the name comes from the Indian words for either wild onion or skunk, but some historians believe that the word Chicago denoted "strong" or "great." Dr. William Barry, first secretary of the Chicago Historical Society, wrote, "Whatever may have been the etymological meaning of the word Chicago in its practical use, it probably denoted strong or great. The Indians applied this term to the Mississippi River, to thunder, or to the voice of the great Manitou." M. M. Quaife in his book Checagou asserts that the significance of the name was anything great or powerful.
The origin of the "Windy City" nickname is a bit more obscure. It is based not on the wind velocity, but on loud and windy boosterism. In the early part of the nineteenth century, Chicago promoters went up and down the East Coast loudly promoting Chicago as an excellent place to invest. Detractors claimed they were full of wind. Later, Chicago and New York were competing to hold the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition. Charles A. Dana, editor of the New York Sun, wrote an editorial advising against the "nonsensical claims of that windy city. Its people could not hold a world's fair even if they won it." This editorial is widely credited with popularizing the "Windy City" nickname.