In the late 19th century, the population of Chicago passed the million mark and Congress granted the city the right to host the World’s Columbian Exposition. The city was going through rapid industrialization, manufacturing, health and civic planning. The industrial, manufacturing and retail sector flourished at the beginning of the 20th century with the expansion of railroads through the upper Midwest and East. Chicago became the world’s largest rail hub, and one of its busiest ports by shipping traffic on the Great Lakes. By the 1907 the population surpassed two million. The first Burnham’s Plan of Chicago was presented in 1909, which provided a rational transportation-based blueprint for urban growth, notably in the central area. It promised to replace ugliness and congestion with extraordinary beauty and efficiency.
In 1903 a fire broke out in the Iroquois Theater which killed nearly 600 people. The Iroquois Theater was demolished in 1925 and it was replaced by the Oriental Theater. Here below are some historical photos that show streets, landmarks, cityscapes and everyday life of Chicago at the beginning of the 20th century.
#1 Twelfth Street bascule bridge over the Chicago River, 1905
#2 Fine Arts Building, Michigan Avenue, Chicago circa 1903
#3 Illinois Central Depot, 12th Street and Park Row, Chicago, 1901
#4 Lake Shore Drive, Jackson Park, Chicago circa 1906
#5 The Coliseum, 15th & Wabash Avenue, Chicago, 1907
#6 New York Life building, Chicago, 1900
#7 State Street looking toward Adams, Chicago, 1905
#8 Dearborn Street, Chicago, 1907
#9 Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, 1905
#10 Madison Street, Hotel Brevoort & La Salle Opera House, Chicago, 1910
#11 Caravels and La Rabida (Sanitarium for Children), Jackson Park, Chicago, 1905
#12 The Great Locks, Chicago Drainage Canal, 1908
#13 The Chicago Club, 1906
#14 Children’s bathing beach, Lincoln Park, Chicago, 1905
#15 Madison Street east from Fifth Avenue, Chicago, 1900
#16 State Street, Chicago, 1905
#17 Illinois Central Railway station, Chicago circa 1907
#18 12th Street bascule bridge, Chicago circa 1900
#19 Auto at Monroe Street near State, Chicago, 1908
#20 The Heart of Chicago, 1901
#21 Steamer William E. Corey, the launch, South Chicago, June 24, 1905
#22 Track elevation and stone mixer, Chicago, 1901
#23 Chicago Beach Hotel, Hyde Park Boulevard, 1900
#24 Grant Park and Blackstone Hotel on Michigan Avenue, Chicago, 1910
#25 Madison and State streets, Chicago, 1907
#26 State Street south from Lake Street, Chicago, 1907
#27 Illinois Theatre, Chicago, 1907
#28 Marshall Field & Co. department store, State Street, Chicago circa 1908
#29 Casting pig iron, Iroquois smelter, Chicago circa 1901
#30 Around a bubbling cup, Lincoln Park, Chicago circa 1910
#31 Steamer William E. Corey, stern view on the ways, South Chicago, 1905
#32 The bridge, Lincoln Park, Chicago circa 1905
#33 University of Chicago, Chicago, 1907.
#34 State Street, Chicago, Illinois, 1900.
#35 Mordecai Brown of the Chicago Cubs, 1903
#36 Art Institute, Chicago, Illinois, USA, 1900.
#37 Huskies pulling a sled with an adult and a child riding along a snow-covered residential street, Chicago, 1904.
#38 The Hand of Man, 1902.
#39 Women and children picking up coal from the ground at the coal yards during winter, Chicago, Illinois, 1902.
#40 Horse-drawn carriages and a streetcar in the ‘Little Poland’ section of Milwaukee Avenue and Division Street in Chicago, Illinois, 1905
#41 Elevated train wreck, with one train car off its tracks and lying across the adjacent track in front of another elevated train, 1900s.
#42 Overturned and damaged train cars from a train accident with men and children standing in front of the wreckage, 1900s.
An accident involving the Doremus Congregational Church excursion train took place in Glenwood, Illinois, on July 13 at 6:55 PM, and 16 people died, more than 80 were injured. The excursion train collided with a coal train known as 'Extra No 144' on tracks of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Company.
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#43 Interior view of the lobby of the Rookery Building after the remodeling by Frank Lloyd Wright, Chicago, 1905
#44 View of the elevated tracks on Wabash Avenue, north from Monroe Street, Chicago, Illinois, 1905.
#45 Group portrait of Barney Oldfield and Dan Canary, motorists, sitting in a car parked next to a garage in Chicago, Illinois, 1905.
#46 Chicago Ship Building Co. Repairing a lake carrier after a collision, 1905.
#47 Steamer William E. Corey, interior of hold, South Chicago circa 1905
#48 A walk in Lincoln Park, Chicago circa 1900
#49 Randolph Street east from LaSalle, Chicago, 1900
#50 Interlocking signal plant, Chicago & Alton Railway, 1900
#51 Wabash Avenue and elevated tracks,Chicago, 1907
#52 Jackknife Bridge, Chicago River, 1907
#53 Jackknife Bridge, Chicago RiverChicago, Illinois, circa 1907
#54 Pere Marquette transfer boat 18 passing State Street bridge, The Chicago River circa 1910
#55 Dearborn Street Station, Chicago, 1910
#56 Arriving from the suburbs, Chicago, 1907
#57 Jack-Knife Bridge, Chicago River, Chicago, 1907
#58 Seeing Chicago, auto at Monroe near State, Chicago, 1908
#59 Children’s bathing beach, Lincoln Park, Chicago, 1905
#60 Wabash Avenue north from Adams Street, Chicago, 1900
#61 Masonic Temple, Chicago, 1901
#62 Great Northern Hotel and office building, Chicago, 1900
#63 Chicago River east from Rush Street Bridge, Chicago, 1905
#64 12th Street Bascule Bridge, Chicago, 1905
#65 Exterior view of a Chicago Yacht Club boathouse under construction with one side covered in scaffolding and the porch partially finished, 1901.
#66 Polo player holding a polo mallet, sitting on horseback in a paddock area in front of a barn in Chicago, Illinois, 1901.
#67 Cyclists, including one African American, positioning on a wooden track to begin a race at a velodrome in Chicago, Illinois, 1901.
#68 Cyclists, J. E. Gill, C. A. Linde, Ed Bukowski , positioning on their bicycles in front of a crowd on North Michigan Avenue in the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois, 1901.
#69 Illinois Trust and Savings Bank, Chicago, Illinois, 1900
#70 View down street of German soldiers on a march from the depot of the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St Paul Railroad on their way to Turner Hall, June 17, 1900.
#71 Madison Street, East from Fifth Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, 1900
#72 Shaded Path, Lincoln Park, Chicago, 1900.
#73 Workers Casting Pig Iron, Iroquois Smelter, Chicago, 1900
#74 Illinois Theater, Chicago, 1900
#75 Fine Arts Building, Chicago, 1900
#76 Montgomery Ward and Co., Tower Building, Chicago, 1900
#77 University of Chicago, 1900
#78 Policewoman Parks of Chicago, 1900s
#79 Michigan Avenue, looking south, Chicago, Illinois, 1900
#80 View of Woods Theatre at 54 W. Randolph Street, Chicago, 1900s
#81 View of the First Methodist Church, Chicago, Illinois, 1900s
#82 Chicago’s City Hall and Cook County Courthouse, Chicago, 1900s
#83 A man using a hose to wash the windows of the George L. Unbehauen Saloon, next to the Northwestern Stove Repair Company Building, Chicago, IL, 1900.
#84 Exterior of Charles Frederichs Family Resort, located at 5497 Lakeside Avenue, Chicago, 1900s
#85 Exterior view of the Frank Roder Saloon, located at State and 63rd Streets, Chicago, 1900s.
#86 Dining room looking southwest, Wright-designed table, chairs, lightscreen and urn are visible, at the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio, located at 951 Chicago Avenue, Oak Park, Illinois, 1902
#87 Chicago Grain Elevators with Caption ‘The Santa Fe Elevator’, 1900s
#88 A priest baptizes a congregant in a ceremony at Fox River, at the foot of Lake Street, 1900.
#89 Weaving in a series detailing the stages of linen production at the Chicago Normal School, Chicago, 1900s
#90 Exterior view of the Fair Store, on the corner of State and Adams Streets in Chicago, 1900s
#91 Chicago Lifeboat Station, 1900s
#92 Steam locomotive & Train passes over Valley Trestle Bridge -Chicago & North Western Railway viaduct over Des Moines River, 1900s
#93 View of the Monadnock Building (seen on right), on the corner of West Jackson and Dearborn streets, Chicago, 1900s
#94 Chicago, 1900
#95 Students at the Chicago Normal School spinning flax into thread, one of the many steps involved in weaving, a manual arts class at Edward Worst’s school, Chicago, 1900
#96 Alterie And Stewart, 1900
#97 20th Century Brewery, 1900
#98 War Correspondents, 1900
#99 Chicago Street, 1900
#100 Bird’s Eye View of the Great Union Stock yards. Chicago, 1900
#101 Chicago & North Western Railway Viaduct over Des Moines River, near Boone, 1900
#102 Standard Coal Car, Chicago & Alton Railway, 1900.
#103 Cityscape, Chicago, Illinois, 1900.
#104 Boats Along Chicago River, Chicago, Illinois, 1900
#105 Lake Shore Drive with Palmer Mansion in Background, Chicago, Illinois, 1900
#106 Bread Carrier, 1900
#107 Marchand Abat-Jours, 1900
#108 Chicago, 1900
#109 The Auditorium, Chicago, 1900.
The Auditorium Building was designed by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler and completed in 1889. When constructed, it was the largest building in the United States and the tallest in Chicago. It was designed to be a multi-use complex, including offices, a theatre and a hotel. Frank Lloyd Wright worked on some of the interior design as a young apprentice.
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#110 Washington Park Club, Chicago, 1900.
Carriages outside the Club House at Washington Park. The aims of the Washington Park Club, incorporated in 1883, were: 'to promote good fellowship among its members by providing a club house and pleasure grounds for their entertainment where at all times they may meet for social intercourse, and to encourage, by providing the proper facilities, raising, improving, breeding, training and exhibiting horses, at meetings to be held at stated times in each year.'
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#111 Randolph Street, Chicago, 1900.
#112 Lincoln Park, Chicago, 1900.
#113 In the heart of the shopping district on State Street, Chicago, 1900s
#114 A forty horse team in the Barnum and Bailey Circus parade, in Chicago, 1904
#115 View of Monroe Street, west from Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, 1904.
#116 Division Street Bridge, view from the side showing the entire bridge from one side and the river underneath, Chicago, 1904.
#117 A man with a raised cane herding sheep down a ramp leading from a Wisconsin Central railroad car at the stockyards in the New City community area, Chicago, Illinois, 1904.
#118 A line of cows tied in pens inside a building at the International Live Stock Exposition at the stockyards, Chicago, 1904.
#119 Man in a white coat pulling an animal carcass that is hanging by a hook along an overhead pulley in the stockyards, Chicago, 1904.
#120 Men During the 1904 Stockyards Strike, Chicago, 1904
#121 Stockmen in the stockyards during the stockyards strike, Chicago, Illinois, 1904.
#122 South Water Street Market looking west toward the elevated train tracks over Wells Street, Chicago, Illinois, 1904.
#123 Mayor Carter H Harrison, looking up while testifying during the Iroquois Theater fire inquest, Chicago, Illinois, January 1904.
#124 Men on horseback herding cattle on a street, while other men and boys watch in the background, during the 1904 Stockyards Strike, Chicago.
#125 Policemen sitting in a classroom, taking the sergeants exam, Chicago, Illinois, 1904.
#126 Interior view of an unidentified bar located on the Southwest corner of Clark and North Avenue, Chicago, 1904
#127 Men gathered outside the Cahill Brothers store, during a stock yard strike in the Halsted street area, Chicago, 1904.
#128 Five men sitting on the porch of a building that has Anchor Lager Beer signs next to its entrances, 1904.
#129 Iroquois Theatre Fire in Chicago, 1900
#130 Iroquois Theatre Fire in Chicago, 1903
#131 Iroquois Theater at the time of the fire, Chicago, Illinois, December 10, 1903.
#132 Iroquois Theatre Fire in Chicago, 1903
#133 Exterior view showing the ladies entrance to the Palmer House hotel at 150 South State Street in the Loop community area of Chicago, Illinois, September 1903.
#134 Wagon carrying girls waving flags, moving down a street during a church picnic parade celebrating the feast of St John the Baptist in the Brighton Park community area, Chicago, 1903
#135 Polska Stacya, a Polish saloon, with children playing and men standing nearby, Chicago, Illinois, May 29, 1903.
#136 Deaf girls dancing around a maypole in a schoolyard, Chicago, Illinois, May 8, 1903.
#137 Crowds lined up to pay taxes at the County Treasurer’s office in the City Hall and County Building in the Loop community area, Chicago, Illinois, April 27, 1903.
#138 Two deaf men standing in front of a fenced yard or field signing to each other during the Automatic Electric Telephone Company strike, Chicago, Illinois, April 23, 1903.
#139 Streetcar driving on one lane of the Ninety-fifth Street Bridge, spanning the Calumet River in the South Chicago community, while construction work is being done, Chicago, Illinois, March 19, 1903.
#140 Chicago street scene. State Street north from Adams, 1903
#141 People standing on a boardwalk and in the sand at the 99th Street beach, looking out at Lake Michigan, in the East Side community area of Chicago, Illinois, 1905.
#142 A donkey, wearing a harness and reins held by a man, standing in front of an elevator inside a building, Chicago, Illinois, 1903.
#143 Men riding in a carriage, and two men sitting on the driver’s bench, at the Washington Park Race Track on Derby Day, Chicago, Illinois, 1903.
#144 A police officer walking in front of a group of policemen gathered along a sidewalk in front of a store during the Chicago City Railway Strike, Chicago, Illinois, 1903
#145 Exterior view of the Fine Arts Building, also knows as the Studebaker Building, located at 410 South Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois, 1903.
#146 Exterior view of the Fred M. Kantzler, Jr. Saloon at 2101 South State Street in the Near South Side community area of Chicago, Illinois in 1903.
#147 The busy cross roads between State Street and Madison Street, Chicago, Illinois, 1903.
#148 Exterior view from North Avenue of the home of Archbishop James Edward Quigley residence (at North Avenue and North State Street in the Near North Side community area), Chicago, Illinois, 1903.
#149 Exterior view of the southeast corner of the main Chicago Public Library building (later the Chicago Cultural Center, at 78 East Washington Street in the Loop community area), Chicago, Illinois, 1903.
#150 Christmas shoppers walking in a commercial street, Chicago, Illinois, 1903.
#151 Girl holding a basket of coal on a street corner by the Salvation Army salvage store with other children and pedestrians in the background, Chicago, Illinois, 1903.
#152 Exterior view of the Fred M. Kantzler, Jr. Saloon, located at 2101 South State Street in the Near South Side community area of Chicago, 1903.
#153 Field Columbian Museum building and German Building from World’s Columbian Exposition, Jackson Park, Trees, view towards the east, Lake Michigan, Chicago, 1903.
#154 A group of spectators sitting outdoors on the grass in chairs in an open semi-circle, with the men wearing suits, and the women wearing long skirts and hats, at the Exmoor Golf Club located at 700 Vine Avenue in Highland Park, Illinois, 1903.
#155 Racehorse, Lute, with jockey mounted, being led on track by African American handler, Washington Park Race Track, Chicago, 1903.
#156 Exterior view of Humboldt Park Boathouse with children ice skating and playing hockey on the frozen lagoon nearby in Humboldt Park in the Humboldt Park community area of Chicago, Illinois, 1903.
#157 Large crowd of people ice skating on the frozen lagoon at Jackson Park in the Woodlawn community area of Chicago, Illinois, 1903.
#158 Two men with brooms standing on the ice amidst spectators in a curling match at Jackson Park in Chicago, Illinois, 1903.
#159 Uncle Sam, the oldest resident of Little Hell, a neighborhood in the Near North Side community area, Chicago, Illinois, September 22, 1902.
#160 Children playing on a seesaw at the Webster School playground, located at Wentworth Avenue and 33rd Street in the Douglas neighborhood, Chicago, Illinois, August 19, 1902.
#161 View of artists at the Negro Exposition held at the Armory, Chicago, IL, 1902.
#162 Hotel Woodruff on fire with firemen and fire extinguishing equipment on and around the building, Chicago, Illinois, June 19, 1902.
#163 Wounded man being carried to an ambulance by two policemen during the Teamsters Strike, Chicago, Illinois, June 4, 1902.
The injured man was a non-union driver according to the newspaper caption. Violence on June 2nd between strikers and non-striking stockyard workers had spread on June 3rd to a strike of 1300 drivers and conductors of delivery wagons for downtown department stores and on June 4th into more general riots.
