Surviving kin of Chicago’s famous O’Leary family ready for new chapter
The O'Leary family plot that includes the graves of Catherine and her husband, Patrick O'Leary,...
Great Chicago Fire
Mass timber construction is making a comeback
Construction workers Cruz Pantoja, left, and Daniel Buendiia, right, work on the 10th floor of...
Chicago records that survived the Great Fire
Illinois State Archives director David Joens, right, and archival conservator Alex Dixon handle early Chicago...
The dying wish of veteran Andreas von Zirngibl
Mark Zirngibl holds the historic wooden grave marker of his relative Andreas von Zirngibl in...
Flashback: ‘All gone but wife, children and energy.’ Days after the Great Fire, the first building in Chicago’s devastated business district was up.
Mathias Schaffer was a night watchman. On the night of Sunday, Oct. 8, he was,...
Flashback: 600 fires sprang up in Chicago the year before the Great Fire of 1871. On the night before, came this ‘terrible’ prediction.
There is no way of knowing what was on people's minds in the hot and...
Flashback: Chicago prepares to mark 150 years since the birth of its own urban fairy tale
Like something out of an urban fairy tale, once upon a time there was a...
Does your family have a connection to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871? Tell us about it.
The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was the most devastating disaster in the city's history,...
Landmarks: The cow didn’t start the fire, but the story of Mrs. O’Leary and Holy Family Church ring true today
People here who entertain visitors by bringing them downtown often relate a tall tale about...
The legend — and myths — of the Great Chicago Fire continue to smolder. An episode of ‘Chicago Stories’ offers more.
On an October afternoon in 1971 a cow was standing on the sidewalk on Oak...