One day, we took Flat Stanlina to the Chicago History Museum.
At the Chicago History Museum we learned many things about the city’s history. It is believed the name of the city, Chicago, came from a leek (a type of onion) that grows wild in this area that the Native Americans called Chicagou. We even smelled the onion!
We learned about the Great Chicago Fire. In October 1871, a very large, terrible fire that lasted three days destroyed much of the city. Hundreds of people even died, and hundreds of thousands of people became homeless after the fire. Stories say that a cow accidentally started the fire when it kicked over a lantern in a barn.
Actually, they don’t really know what exactly started the fire. But a lot of different reasons contributed to why the fire was so big. In those days, the houses in Chicago were made of wood and were built very close together. Even the streets were paved with wood, instead of asphalt or concrete like they are today. There were few firefighters in a city as big as Chicago was. The few firefighters did not have good equipment. In the months before the fire, that summer there was a drought, meaning that it rained fewer times than in normal years. As a result, everything was very dry and burned easily. Continue reading “Chicago History Museum with Flat Stanlina”
