Chicago - "My Kind of Town"
The largest city in the state of Illinois with a population of nearly 3 million people, Chicago is the third-most populous city in the United States. Founded in 1833 at the site of a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed, it soon became a transportation hub in North America and quickly became the business and financial capital of the Midwest. Since the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, it has been regarded as one of the ten most influential cities in the world. Its name is the French rendering of the Miami-Illinois name shikaakwa, meaning "wild leek" (an analogical extension of the original meaning of "skunk").
During the mid-18th century the Chicago area was inhabited primarily by Potawatomis, who took the place of the Miami and Sauk and Fox people. The first settler in Chicago, Haitian Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, arrived in the 1770s, married a Potawatomi woman, and founded the area's first trading post. In 1803 the United States Army built Fort Dearborn, which was destroyed in 1812 in the Fort Dearborn Massacre. The Ottawa, Ojibwa, and Potawatomi later ceded the land to the United States in the Treaty of St. Louis of 1816. On August 12, 1833, the Town of Chicago was organized with a population of 350, and within seven years it grew to a population of over 4,000. Incorporated on March 4, 1837, Chicago in its first century was one of the fastest growing cities in the world.
Starting in 1848, the city became an important transportation center between the eastern and western United States when Chicago's first railway, Galena & Chicago Union Railroad, opened. The Illinois and Michigan Canal allowed steamboats and sailing ships on the Great Lakes to connect through Chicago to the Mississippi River. With a flourishing economy that brought many new residents from rural communities and Irish American, Polish American, Swedish American, German American and numerous other immigrants. The city's manufacturing and retail sectors dominated the Midwest and greatly influenced the American economy, with the Union Stock Yards dominating the meat packing trade.
After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 destroyed a third of the city, including the entire central business district, Chicago experienced rapid rebuilding and growth. During Chicago's rebuilding period, the first skyscraper was constructed in 1885 using steel-skeleton construction. In 1893, Chicago hosted the World's Columbian Exposition on former marshland at the present location of Jackson Park. The Exposition drew 27.5 million visitors, and is considered among the most influential world's fairs in history. The University of Chicago had been founded one year earlier in 1892 on the same location. The term "midway" for a fair or carnival referred originally to the Midway Plaisance, a strip of park land that still runs through the University of Chicago campus and connects Washington and Jackson Parks. The Museum of Science and Industry, in Hyde Park, is the only remaining building from the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893.
The 1920s brought notoriety to Chicago as gangsters (including the notorious Al Capone) battled each other and the law during the Prohibition era. The 1920s also saw a large increase in industry with arrivals of the Great Migration which led thousands of Southern blacks to Chicago and other Northern cities. On December 2, 1942, the world's first controlled nuclear reaction was conducted at the University of Chicago as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. Starting in the 1950s, many upper- and middle-class citizens left the inner city of Chicago for the suburbs and left many impoverished neighborhoods in their wake. Major construction projects, including the Sears Tower (which in 1974 became the world s tallest building), McCormick Place, and O'Hare Airport, were undertaken around this time. Since the early 1990s, some of Chicago's formerly abandoned neighborhoods are showing new life. The city has made considerable investment in infrastructure, revitalizing downtown theaters and retail districts, and improving lakefront and riverfront cityscapes.
The city's main commercial and cultural center is generally regarded as Downtown Chicago, The city's waterfront allure and nightlife has attracted residents and tourists alike. Over one-third of the city population is concentrated in the lakefront neighborhoods (from Rogers Park in the north to Hyde Park in the south). The city has many upscale dining establishments as well as many ethnic restaurant districts. These include "Greektown" on South Halsted, "Little Italy" on Taylor Street, just west of Halsted, "Chinatown" on the near South Side, and South Asian (Indian/Pakistani) on Devon Avenue.
Various forms of music are distinct to Chicago. Among them are Chicago blues, Chicago soul, jazz, and gospel. The city is the birthplace of the house style and is the site of an influential hip-hop scene. In the 1980s, the city was a center for industrial, punk and new wave. This influence continued into the alternative music of the 1990s. The city has been an epicenter for rave culture since the 1980s. A flourishing independent rock music culture brought forth Chicago Indie. Annual festivals feature various acts such as Lollapalooza, the Intonation Music Festival and Pitchfork Music Festival.
Chicago attracts about 33 million visitors annually. Upscale shopping along the Magnificent Mile, thousands of restaurants, as well as Chicago's eminent architecture, continue to draw tourists. Navy Pier, 3,000 feet long, houses retail, restaurants, museums, exhibition halls, and auditoriums. Its 150-foot-tall Ferris wheel is north of Grant Park on the lakefront and is one of the most visited landmarks in the Midwest, attracting about 8 million people annually.
The Oriental Institute, part of the University of Chicago, has an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern archaeological artifacts, while the Freedom Museum is dedicated to exploring and explaining the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Other museums and galleries in Chicago are the Chicago History Museum, DuSable Museum of African-American History, Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum, the Polish Museum of America, Museum of Contemporary Art, the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, the Hyde Park Art Center and The Renaissance Society.
Chicago has great signature foods which reflect the city's ethnic and working-class roots. These include the deep-dish pizza and the Chicago hot dog, which is almost always made of Vienna Beef and loaded with mustard, chopped onion, sliced tomato, pickle relish, celery salt, sport peppers, and a dill pickle spear Grant Park celebrates the Taste of Chicago festival the week of the Fourth of July. Every type of food in the city is represented, with free concerts and events daily.
Chicago is well known for it's love of sports, with five major professional teams within the city. Among them are the Chicago Bears of the National Football League who play at Soldier Field and the Chicago Cubs of the National League who play at Wrigley Field. We invite you to come join us as we cheer on the home team Cubs at "Wrigleyville" and discover why Chicago is "My Kind of Town"!
Sources:
Wikipedia Encyclopedia
