A Map of Chicago, Incorporated as a Town, August 5, 1833,compiled from the original
"Map of Chicago about 1833," by Walter H. Conley and O.E. Stelzer, 1933. (CCW Oversize 44)

What did Chicago look like in the early 1830s?

Outside the stockade enclosing Fort Dearborn were five or six log houses and an area where cattle grazed. In 1832, the United States Government began construction of a lighthouse. The following year the government made an appropriation of $25,000 to improve the Chicago harbor. Lake Michigan had almost no natural harbors and only lighters and bateaux, vessels used to off-load cargo from larger ships, were able to enter the mouth of the Chicago River. Schooners and steamboats bound for Chicago had to anchor a half-mile or more off the beach, and by means of the lighters, discharged their cargoes. It was a hazardous business, as shipwreck was almost certain in stormy weather. Despite the treacherous journey, residents of the area were entirely dependent on the supplies these vessels brought to Chicago from cities to the East.

Work on a Chicago harbor began in 1834, and almost from the first cutting of the channel through the Lake Michigan sandbar, lake craft made use of its shelter and harbor facilities. By 1835, sufficient progress had been made on the harbor to allow the schooner Illinois, with a capacity of one hundred tons, to pass through and enter the Chicago River. Chicago rapidly became the leading port in the West.

Receipt. "Received in store from Barge [Adrana] for Mr. Z. Brown, Chicago, to forward to M. Kingman & Company, Buffalo, April 29, 1840." (CCW 53.27)

Steamboats and vessels from the East stopped at Chicago's port, which served as a great thoroughfare for both goods and passengers bound for the interior of the country.

By 1837, a southern pier, extending a total distance of 1,852 feet, had been completed from a point opposite Fort Dearborn across the old river channel and out to Lake Michigan. The north pier was pushed out into the lake by 1,200 feet, and only a small amount of the old sandbar remained between the river and the lake. In 1838, an additional $30,000 was appropriated for the harbor, but the improvements were not successful: the lake's currents rapidly re-deposited the sandbars, and the winds blew sand from the beach into the harbor itself. While the direction of the project to improve the harbor had to change, Congress was indifferent to granting the City any more funds. The harbor project came to a sudden halt on September 1, 1839. Fortunately, Mayor Francis C. Sherman, the Board of Aldermen and City Clerk Thomas Hoyne, however, were able to turn the tide of Congress' apathy with statistics illustrating Chicago's economic importance. The annual average import trade for the city between 1833 and 1839 was $1,500,000; the export trade nearly $350,000. Congress responded in 1843 with a new appropriation of $25,000. When Captain (later General) George B. McClellan took control of the project, he garnered an additional $30,000. The flow of money steadily increased and by the end of 1844, a total of $247,000 had been appropriated by Congress for the development of Chicago's harbor.

Other exhibit items:

First Annual Statement of the Trade and Commerce of Chicago, for the year ending December 31, 1858: reported to the Chicago Board of Trade, by Seth Catlin, Superintendent. Chicago: S.P. Rounds, Premium Book and Job Printer, 1859. (CCW 4.31)

Reproduction of a blueprint map. Plan of Chicago Harbor, by Captain Thomas Jefferson Cram, September 1839. (CCW 41.2)

• This 1839 plan for the Chicago harbor illustrates five years of shoreline encroachments and marks the position of the piers on the Chicago River. The blueprint notes that the public ground at Randolph Street and Michigan Avenue is "forever to remain vacant."

Petition, of the Mayor and Common Council of the City of Chicago, Praying an Appropriation to Protect that City from the Encroachments of Lake Michigan, with map, February 17, 1840. (CCW 47.30)

• Mayor Alexander Lloyd and the Common Council did not plead for an appropriation of money from the Government. Instead, they asked for an "unconditional donation" of the land in the Fort Dearborn Addition so that the city would be able to increase its taxable property base.

The Illinois Central Rail-Road Company Offer (sic) for Sale Over 2,400,000 Acres, Selected Prairie, Farm and Wood Lands. New York: John W. Amerman, printer, 1855. (CCW 40.20)

Great Central Depot Grounds, with Entrance to Harbor, from Chicago Illustrated, literary description by James W. Sheahan, illustrations by the Chicago Lithographing Company. Chicago: Jevne & Almini, 1866.  (CCW 4.44)

Illinois Central Round House, from Chicago Illustrated, literary description by James W. Sheahan, illustrations by the Chicago Lithographing Company. Chicago: Jevne & Almini, 1866.  (CCW 4.45)

Printed document, signed. Petition to the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States for a land grant to aid the Newcastle and Richmond Railroad Company, et al., ca. 1853. (CCW 53.25)

The Chicago Crib, from Chicago Illustrated, literary description by James W. Sheahan, illustrations by the Chicago Lithographing Company. Chicago: Jevne & Almini, 1866. (CCW 4.26)

Plan #1. Chicago Sewerage. Chicago: Printed at the Office of Charles Scott, 1855. (CCW Oversize 25)

• The 1855 plan for Chicago sewerage called for large main sewers, five feet in diamenter with four-foot plushing pipes, to supply the city's water mains with a constant current of fresh water.