Warriorz13
Warriorz13 2 years ago
Chicago 1850 population 29,963
The built-up area of the young city (green) extended only a third of the
way to the city limits. The Illinois & Michigan Canal, opened in 1848,
connected the city to Downstate Illinois and the Mississippi Valley. The
first railroad reached the city the same year.
Chicago 1860 population 109,260
A dozen railroad lines now reached the city, and settlement reached west
and north of the Chicago River. The first horsecar line opened in 1859,
along State Street from Randolph to Roosevelt.
Chicago 1870 population 298,977
City limits have been extended, and development extended in fingerlike
patterns out along the half-dozen horsecar lines. The city became a
manufacturing center as well as the center of Western agricultural trade.
Chicago 1880 population 503,185
Post-Fire resettlement led to development of outlying neighborhoods and the
first commuter suburbs, which appear like beads strung along the radiating
railroad lines.
Chicago 1890 population 1,099,850
The city's territory more than doubled as surrounding towns agreed to
annexation in 1889. Other settled areas, such as Evanston, Oak Park, and
Maywood, remained independent of the city. New cable car lines reached
further out from the Loop than the old horsecars could.
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Chicago 1900 population 1,698,575
The first elevated line opened in 1892 and was quickly followed by others
reaching far out into the neighborhoods. Both the L lines and new electric
streetcar lines spurred development in outlying areas. The new Sanitary
and Ship Canal replaced the Illinois & Michigan Canal.
Chicago 1910 population 2,185,283
Extensions to the elevated lines reached into developing areas and even
beyond the city limits.
Chicago 1920 population 2,701,705
The L was extended to Wilmette and Berwyn. The North Shore Channel was dug
to provide fresh water to flush the stagnant North Branch of the Chicago
River.
Chicago 1930 population 3,376,438
A decade of frantic growth resulted in thousands of new bungalows
encircling the city. Elevated extensions to Dempster (Niles Center, now
Skokie) and 22nd & Mannheim (Westchester) were expected to serve new
developments, but the Depression ended the city's homebuilding boom. New
landfill areas created more lakefront parkland, some of which was used for
the 1933-34 Century of Progress Exposition. The Cal-Sag Channel opened,
connecting Lake Calumet port facilities to the Sanitary & Ship Canal.
Chicago 1940 population 3,396,808
The Depression hit Chicago hard, ending the city's building boom. The city
changed little from 1930. Lake Shore Drive became the city's first express
highway.
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Chicago 1950 population 3,620,962
The State Street subway opened in 1943. After the Chicago Transit
Authority took over rapid transit operations in 1947, service to Niles
Center was ended. A postwar building boom filled in the city and the first
ring of suburbs with new houses, and increasing auto ownership meant the
development of areas far from public transit lines.
Chicago 1960 population 3,550,404
CTA closed several rapid transit branch lines during the 1950s, including
the Stockyards, Kenwood, Humboldt Park, and Normal Park lines. The
Garfield Park line was cut back to Desplaines Avenue and relocated to the
median of the new Congress (now Eisenhower) Expressway. New development
was most pronounced in the Morton Grove, Skokie, Niles, and Des Plaines
areas, areas served by the new Edens Expressway or near the new O'Hare
International Airport. The full tollway network and Calumet Skyway opened
in 1958.
Chicago 1970 population 3,369,359
The expressway network (shown in rose) radiating from the Loop was
finished. Skokie Swift service brought rapid transit back to Skokie in
1964, and two new lines were constructed in expressway medians: the
extension to Jefferson Park and the Dan Ryan line to 95th Street. New port
facilities at Lake Calumet followed completion of the St. Lawrence Seaway
in 1959.
Chicago 1980
Suburban growth in the early 1970s spread to Schaumburg and Oak Brook, but
then development slowed as a nationwide recession and declines in Midwest
manufacturing hit Chicago. CTA suffered from a series of financial crises
and service cutbacks. The planned Crosstown Expressway was cancelled as
public attention turned to energy and environmental concerns.
Chicago 1990
Rapid transit service reached O'Hare, and money from the cancelled
Crosstown Expressway paid for a new line to Midway Airport (opened 1993).
A building boom filled the Loop with new office towers, and former
industrial areas near the Loop were redeveloped with apartments and
townhouses.
