Welcome to Great Chicago Fire and the Web of Memory, a commemorative online exhibition created by the Chicago Historical Society and Northwestern University.

The hope that, as the fire had extended to the lake at Chicago avenue, and the wind was blowing fiercely from the west and south, that part of the ... ; Chicago Tribune Headline; October 11, 1871

THE GREAT CHICAGO FIRE; "THE GREATEST DISASTER OUR CITY HAS EVER SEEN" ... Regardless of how the fire started though, on Sunday evening, October 8, 1871, Chicago became a city in flames.

Investigates the cause of the Great Chicago Fire, formerly blamed on a cow thought to have kicked over a lantern in Mrs. O'Leary's barn. ... A New Look at the Cause of the Great Chicago Fire

The history of the great fire in Chicago, which rises to the dignity of a national event, cannot be written until each witness, who makes any record whatever, shall have told what he saw.

Aftermath of Great Chicago Fire, 1871 ... Urban Disorder and the Shape of Belief: The Great Chicago Fire, the Haymarket Bomb, and the Model Town of Pullman. 1995.

The Great Chicago Fire ; October 9, 1871 ; If you woke up and your house was on fire, what would you take with you before getting out?

Click here to see the Chicago Historical Society's website on the Great Chicago Fir ... Back in 1871 people blamed Mrs. O'Leary's cow because the fire started on there street, but the dry summer helped

Great Chicago Fire of 1871; ... Like the advance of a great army the fire moved forward in several columns, and like a powerless but unconquered foe the fire department slowly retreated.

The Great Chicago Fire was a conflagration that burned from Sunday, October 8th, to early Tuesday, October 10, 1871, killing hundreds and destroying about four square miles in Chicago, Illinois. Though the fire was one of the largest U.S. disasters of the 19th century, the rebuilding...