# Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)/Chicago

* related portals: Chicago
* sister projects: Wikipedia article, quotes, news, travel guide, Wikidata item
Edition of 1921; disclaimer.
​CHICAGO, city, port of entry, and county-seat of Cook co., Ill.; second city in population in the United States. It is built on the S. W. shore of Lake Michigan, about 18 miles N. of its S. extremity. It is the center of the Western and Lake commerce and has a large water front of 30 miles. A portion of the N. shore is protected by a massive wall. The city is one of the greatest commercial centers, and is connected by steamship and railroad lines with all parts of the world. The lake shore is protected by breakwaters, forming a splendid harbor at the mouth of the Chicago river. The exterior breakwater is 5,436 feet long, and extends in a N. E. and S. W. direction about one mile from the shore. Piers and breakwaters, built as continuations of the shores of Chicago river, form a harbor of about 455 acres, with an average depth of 16 feet. At the mouth of the Calumet river, in South Chicago, is another harbor 300 feet wide between piers. The Erie canal, terminating at Buffalo, provides a means of commercial communication with the Atlantic ports. Area, 199.37 square miles; pop. (1890) 1,099,850; (1900) 1,698,575; (1910), 2,185,283; (1920) 2,701,705.
Topography.—The city was built originally on the flat prairie, at an elevation too low to secure proper drainage. When this became apparent the grade of the whole city was raised 7 feet and the streets and buildings brought to the new level. The Chicago river traverses the city, and by its peculiar course divides it into three sections, known as the North, South, and West Sides, which are connected by many bridges and tunnels.
Commerce.—Chicago is the commercial distributing center of the country; it is the heart of the greatest producing region of the country and the greatest railway center in the world. It is the principal center of the world's meat packing industry; it is the world's greatest live stock, grain, and lumber market; it leads all other cities of the country in the distribution of dry goods, general merchandise, foodstuffs, machinery, jewelry, musical instruments, wearing apparel, automobiles, furniture, and household articles. With few exceptions it holds a commanding place in every American industry.
Chicago's estimated earning power is $1,000,000,000 a year. It has more than 30,000 factories and its manufacturing zone has a normal output of $6,500,000,000 a year. Its wholesale trade is fully as large, while its lumber receipts are 2,329,071,000 feet a year.
The city has one hundred and one miles of water front, of which fifty-two miles are equipped with both dock and railway facilities. In 1919 its lake trade, comprising vessel arrivals and clearances from the Chicago district, was 60,769,234 tons. It is the terminus of thirty-nine railways and has 1,400 miles of belt line. Its railway yards number more than 100, one having a capacity of 10,000 freight cars a day. Another railway is now building the largest freight yard in the world.
Chicago is in close commercial touch with every producing and consuming region of the country. Because of its central position and its unequaled railway facilities it is the natural market place for a vast part of the North American continent and products manufactured elsewhere find here their natural distributing point. Thus, more automobiles are sold from Chicago than from any other city although Chicago is not the center of the automobile manufacturing district. The same is true in many other lines.
The city's foreign trade is close to $2,000,000,000 a year. Federal government figures show the city's foreign trade as being about $100,000,000 a year. The reason for this is that the government gives credit for shipments to the port of entry, or exit. Therefore the seaboard cities get entire credit for the business that is really done in Chicago, and merely passes through these ports. Under the British system, credit for foreign trade goes to the point of origin, not to the city through which the business happens to pass on its way to its destination. This method makes it possible to find out exactly what each city of England is doing in originating business. Were such a system in force in the United States Chicago's export business would be shown to be close to two billion dollars annually.
The packers and the manufacturers of agricultural machinery are among Chicago's heaviest exporters and their products are shipped all over the world. Many other lines likewise have many foreign markets and a movement is on foot to have “made in Chicago” stamped on all products of this market that the city's importance as a producing center may be brought home to the rest of the world.
Chicago commerce will be greatly increased with the completing of the various waterway plans, especially south through the Mississippi and eastward by way of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence river.
Finance.—Chicago has made great strides as a financial center in recent years. Its bank clearings now run more than $100,000,000 a day and its banks share with those of New York City in ​the most important financial undertakings of the day. The Continental and Commercial National Bank has a capital of $25,000,000, a figure surpassed by no bank in America and equaled only by two, both of which are in New York City. The city has, in all, 150 banks; of these 27 are National and 123 State institutions. They have a capital of approximately $125,000,000 and surplus and excess profits of about $113,000,000. No other city in the country, except New York, has larger resources, although the banking history of Chicago dates back only to 1837 when the first bank charter was issued.
Not only has the number of banks in the city increased rapidly in recent years but the size of the individual institutions has grown remarkably. In addition to the Continental and Commercial National, already mentioned, the First National has just increased its capital to $12,500,000 and a great new bank, or rather two associated banks, is in process of formation, being the consolidation of the Corn Exchange National, the Merchants Loan & Trust Company and the Illinois Trust and Savings Banks. These will be called the Corn Exchange National and the Illinois Merchants Trust, the latter being the State bank.
Chicago banks in 1920 had out in loans and discounts the sum of $1,575,640,158. Deposits stood at $1,825,576,473. Of these deposits $443,840,093 is represented by savings accounts. The total assessed realty valuation of Chicago in 1920 was $1,653,171,362. The net funded debt (less sinking fund) was $53,624,924. The annual budget was $131,943,672. The tax levy was $84,973,008. Cash resources were $514,770,161.
Education.—Chicago had in 1920 305 public schools with 377,058 pupils and 8,558 teachers. It has numerous universities and colleges of high rank, its two largest, the University of Chicago and Northwestern University, having more than 15,000 students. The city is a great medical school center, containing some of the highest rank in the country. It has very many special schools of all kinds and the art school of the Art Institute of Chicago is one of the largest in America.
The city's progress in education has been as rapid as its development along other lines. Thus, in 1841 the public school enrollment was only 410 and the teachers numbered 5. In small parks and play grounds which are closely connected with the school system of the city, Chicago is unsurpassed by any American city.
The University of Chicago, founded in 1890, now has an endowment of $30,000,000 while its total assets in land, buildings, and securities exceed $50,000,000. Northwestern University, a much older institution, was organized in 1850. It recently has undertaken a campaign to raise $25,000,000, a part of which will be used to create a magnificent educational center for its medical and other professional schools on the lake shore.
Chicago is particularly proud of its libraries. Chief among them from the popular point of view is the public library, which was started in the years following the great fire of 1871 with books sent from England. The library now contains more than a million books with an aggregate circulation during the last fiscal year of 995,000 volumes, This does not include books on the open shelves or books consulted in the reference rooms. The calls for books in reference use numbered 744,991 during 1919.
The Newberry is a free reference library including in its scope books on history, literature, religion, philosophy, biography, language and the fine arts. The library has undertaken the task of photographing entire series of rare books in some of the great European libraries, thus bringing to American students a mass of material hitherto beyond their reach.
Another of Chicago's great libraries is the John Crerar, a reference institution chiefly scientific and technical, and containing 400,000 books, 150,000 pamphlets and an immense number of maps and periodicals. Its collection of works on labor and the American labor question is one of the finest in the country. Its largest section is that of medicine.
The Harper Memorial Library at the University of Chicago includes more than 500,000 books. Other important libraries in the city are the Ryerson at the Art Institute, the Chicago Historical Society, and that of the Field Museum of Natural History.
Chicago has many important musical institutions, including the Grand Opera Association and the Symphony Orchestra, founded by Theodore Thomas. Among other leading musical organizations in the city are the Apollo Musical Club, the Civic Music Association, the Mendelssohn Club, the Musicians' Club and the Glee Club of the Chicago Association of Commerce.
Public Buildings.—The total number of churches, chapels and missions in Chicago is 1,200. Its resident church dignitaries include a Roman Catholic archbishop and bishops of the ​Methodist, Episcopal, and other Protestant denominations. The Y. M. C. A., the Y. W. C. A., the Salvation Army, the Knights of Columbus, and similar organizations play an important part in the city's life. There are divinity schools at the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. The city is one of the chief centers of the Christian Science church. There are two Jesuit colleges in the city, St. Ignatius and Loyola. The Jews have many fine synagogues throughout the city. The terrible conflagration that visited Chicago in 1871 was a blessing in disguise, for it cleared away the hastily built and inadequate buildings dating from the pioneer period and enabled it to be rebuilt on a scale commensurate with its commercial destiny. Its municipal utilities, water works, lighting, transportation, fire protection and sewerage systems are not surpassed by those of any city in the country. It has a magnificent park and boulevard system connecting all parts of the city. A superb driveway runs north along the Lake shore to Fort Sheridan, twenty-five miles distant. The city is noted for the size, height and beauty of its public and business buildings, among which may be noted the Auditorium, the Coliseum, the Blackstone Hotel, the Stock Exchange, the Masonic Temple, the Public Library, while beautiful homes abound in the choice residential sections of the city.
History.—The site of Chicago was first visited by Joliet and Marquette, French missionaries and explorers, in 1673. In 1685 a fort was built there commanded by an officer in the Canadian service and before the end of the 17th century the Jesuits made it a mission post. Indian hostilities prevented further occupation till the United States Government established there the frontier post of Fort Dearborn in 1804, which was destroyed by Indians in the War of 1812, but rebuilt in 1816, when a permanent settlement began. In 1830 the population was only 70 persons, but in 1835 a town was organized, and in 1837 it was incorporated as a city with 4,000 inhabitants and an area of 10 square miles. On Oct. 8 and 9, 1871, occurred the memorable fire which reduced the greater part of the city to ashes, destroyed its entire business center, and swept over an area of more than three square miles, causing a loss of about $190,000,000. Nearly 20,000 buildings were consumed, 100,000 people were made homeless, and 200 lives were lost. Another disastrous fire broke out in 1874 in the heart of the city, which consumed 18 blocks and over 600 homes, with a loss of over $4,000,000. Within a very short time after these disasters Chicago was rebuilt in a much more substantial and elegant manner, and it has since continued its steady march to prosperity. In May, 1886, anarchist riots at the Haymarket resulted in the death of six police officers, the wounding of several others, the conviction of eight rioters, and the execution of four. The World's Columbian Exposition was held in Chicago from May 1 to Oct. 30, 1893.
© Ewing Galloway :
ADAMS STREET, CHICAGO, LOOKING TOWARD THE INSTITUTE OF ART :