Maps

Historic Maps of Old Chicago

Maps help us figure out where we are going and how to get there. But historical maps tell us where we’ve been. South Loop geographer and historian Dennis McClendon of Chicago CartoGraphics said in a January, 2008 East-West University press release, “Historic maps of Chicago tell intriguing stories about the city’s origins and development. Vanished creeks and woods, big projects never accomplished, forgotten ethnic groups and neighborhoods, mysterious subdivisions, abandoned industrial areas, vice districts and world’s fairs, ghosts of railroad stations and streetcar lines and freight tunnels, are all reminders of a constantly changing Loop.”

There are hundreds of historic maps of Chicago available on the Internet and many have interactive capability to zoom in for a detailed view. For example, the above Elmira Advertiser map showing the 1871 Burnt District is available, along with many others, for close examination at The David Rumsey Historical Map Collection.

Some of the available maps are actually contemporary and topically focused. Jazz Age Chicago has several area and venue specific maps for inspection on the Bright-Light Districts page and Mario Gomes’ Al Capone Museum features two Levee District maps compiled by Bryan Lloyd.

I am partial to the old maps because of their position as a primary source and because they are often quite artistic. My favorite historic map of Chicago was printed in 1931 and is more than a map – it’s a cautionary tale: Gangland Map, “A Map of Chicago’s gangland from authentic sources: designed to inculcate the most important principles of piety and virtue in young persons, and graphically portray the evils and sin of large cities.” (UIUC)

Sing a Song of Gangsters
A Pocket Full of Dough
Four and Twenty Bottles
Make a Case You Know

Note “King Al.” To zoom in on all the wonderful details of the map click here.

For more historical Chicago maps:
Encyclopedia of Chicago

From: University of Chicago Library
Chicago in the 1890s
Chicago 1900-1914
Social Scientists Map Chicago
Map Links Page

General Chicago Area Maps (including ward maps)
Historical Maps Online: University Library (University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign)
Chicago Street Name Changes
Historical Maps of Chicago
From Adams Street, Looking South
Places Online
Using Historical Maps
Chicago Growth 1850-1990: Maps by Dennis McClendon

Photo Credits:
Wikipedia Commons, Historical maps of Chicago
Gangland Map from University of Texas at Austin. (Also available at UIUC Library)