Chicago's Opulent Age

Book excerpt: The fires that destroyed Chicago in the 1870s just happened to be events that have led to the city's importance today. Chicago, after the destruction of its downtown, was free to use new architectural concepts and to examine how to use its crowded land space. It was free to reinvent itself. Soon, new Jenny-inspired "tower" buildings began to claw their way into the sky, enabling the city to concentrate its commercial core. By the turn of the century, Chicago had added many lakefront buildings, parks, and temples of art and music, built an elevated railway system, and hosted a World's Fair. Chicago was the first city to let the inventiveness of industrialism mold the way it went about its business and pastimes. Chicago's Opulent Age examines the buildings, events, parks, and people of the city from the 1870s through the 1940s. Also featured are "funlands," fairs, sculptures, and transportation. More than 200 pictures and colorful narratives provide a fitting tribute to the past history of this great city.