USA > Illinois > Cook County > History of Cook County, Illinois : being a general survey of Cook County history, including a condensed history of Chicago and special account of districts outside the city limits : from the earliest settlement to the present time, volume I > Part 64
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83
1
659
HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY
In 1850 the Chicago courthouse was built of Lockport (New York) stone. At Athens, near Chicago, on the Illinois and Mich- igan canal, twenty-four miles southwest of the city, was stone as good or better. The Illinois Stone Company, under Mr. Sherman, opened stone works there in 1851. The first Athens stone used was the facade of the Merchants and Mechanics bank in 1852. After that its use here was rapid and immense. By 1857 there were in existence the Illinois Stone Co., at Athens; Great Western Stone Co., at Desplaines; D. C. Skelly, at Athens, and Singer & Talcott, at Athens, all having 335 acres. The quarries were from ten to twenty feet in thickness. By the Illinois and Michigan canal the receipts of stone in 1849 were 7,995 cubic feet; 1852, 40,752 cubic feet; 1857, 122,842 cubic feet. A part of this stone came from the Joliet quarries. In 1857 about 6,000 tons of stone were shipped from Chicago.
Chicago at first imported her coal from Cleveland and Erie, but before 1857 she was shipping Illinois coal to all quarters. In 1847 the coal trade of Illinois was a few thousand tons annually, but by 1852, LaSalle, Kingston, Sheffield, Rock Island, Danville and Du- quoin began to ship large quantities. Locomotives demanded coal and city homes demanded gas.
By 1857 hardwood lumber began to be demanded-walnut, cherry, ash, oak, whitewood, maple, sycamore, birch, elm, hickory, etc. In 1857 Chicago received 459,639,198 feet of lumber, 131,- 832,250 shingles, and 80,130,000 lath, and at this date supplied much of the West with these products.
Chicago had also become a great salt market. The receipts were : 1852, 92,907 barrels; 1857, 209,946 barrels.
The "Dean Richmond" was sent as an experiment with a load of grain from Chicago to Liverpool in 1856. In 1857 the "Mederia Pet," a small burden boat, came from Liverpool to Chicago with a load of merchandise. She brought iron, crackers, hardware, cutlery, etc., and took back hides and staves. In July, 1857, Capt. Pierce, who had commanded the "Dean Richmond," built with others for the Chicago trade a splendid barge named "C. J. Kershaw," which sailed for Liverpool with staves. On her way back with merchan- dise she encountered fierce storms, and reached the St. Lawrence river mouth so late in season that her cargo had to be sent on by rail. Other vessels were built here for ocean trade.
Until Sept. 12, 1857, for four years previous, exchange on New York was from 1/2 to 3/4 per cent. premium. As high as 10 per cent. was charged by some bankers here during the panic of 1857, but usually there was none to sell at any price. In some cases from 12 to 15 per cent. was paid to avoid protest.
The reciprocity treaty of 1854 opened up Canadian trade. It took effect in 1855. In 1854 the Canadian vessel arrivals were only five ; in 1855 they were 77, and in 1856 were 110. In 1854 Chicago
660
HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY
exports in Canadian vessels were worth $82,145; in 1856, $975,297. Canadian imports in 1854 were worth $24,855; in 1856, $2,060,546. Propellers were designed to haul from Collingwood, Canada, and return. There came from Canada, cutlery, oil, fish, lumber, iron, merchandise, liquors, salt, shingles, lath, wood, etc.
The vessel arrivals in 1856 were 7,328. In 1854 Chicago sur- passed any other city in the world as a grain market-the amount shipped in 1854 being 13,132,501 bushels which surpassed Odessa, before that the greatest.
"In pork Chicago is led by Cincinnati and Louisville, but the progress which the packers of our city have made in this branch of the provision trade is almost without a parallel. The future will doubtless develop results in this trade equal to the past. Our city possesses every desirable facility for receiving hogs from surround- ing states, while her advantages for shipping are superior to those enjoyed by the cities named above."-( Annual Review, 1857.)
RECEIPTS OF WHEAT.
St. Louis.
Chicago.
1852.
1,663,422
941,470
1853.
2,068,893
1,687,465
1854
2,340,217
3,038,955
1855
3,921,197
7,535,097
1856.
3,967,621
9,419,365
1857.
3,369,618
10,783,292
"While on all sides old and wealthy cities have presented a gloomy and foreboding aspect of dull streets and empty stores, Chi- cago, young and buoyant, has never fagged in energy, but has all along presented the same busy, bustling, appearance which is her characteristic. It has been the marvel of almost every stranger who has visited our city since the 'crisis' set in, that our streets were so crowded, our stores so full, and our railroads, canal and lake craft doing such an immense business."-( Annual Review, 1857.)
WAREHOUSES, 1864.
Capacity,Bu.
Sturgis, Buckingham & Co., A.
700,000
Sturgis, Buckingham & Co., B.
700,000
Armour, Dole & Co.
850,000
Armour, Dole & Co.
800,000
Munger & Armour
600,000
Hiram Wheeler
500,000
Chas. Wheeler
Munger, Wheeler & Co
500,000
W. L. Newberry
300,000
George Sturgis
75,000
A. Lunt & Bros
80,000
Howe & Robbins ..
80,000
Munn & Scott, N. W.
600,000
Munn & Scott, Old house
200,000
Munn & Scott, Minn.
900,000
Munn & Scott, Steel.
1,200,000
Flint & Thompson.
1,250,000
Flint & Thompson.
750,000
Total
10,085,000
663
HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY
"Wherever the fame of Chicago's greatness has gone, the wonder- ful stories of her elevators have traveled with it. No European traveler who visits the West thinks his tour ended unless he has witnessed the modus operandi of their performances. Anthony Trollope in his "Travels in America,' pays a handsome tribute to this triumph of American skill, and contrasts much to the disad- vantage of 'ye Britons,' the slow and tedious systems of discharging grain cargoes by manual labor at the docks of Liverpool and Lon- don."-(Annual Review, 1864.)
The extraordinary building operations of 1864 surprised even the most sanguine of Chicago. Buildings of all sorts, estimated, 8,000; their value, $4,700,000.
STATISTICS.
Total grain receipts, 1854, bushels.
15,804,423
Total grain receipts, 1855, bushels.
20,487,953
Total shipments of grain, 1855, bushels. 16,633,813
Number of hogs handled, 1854-5.
138,515
Value of beef packed, 1855.
$1,152,421
Receipts lumber, 1855, feet.
326,553,467
Total vessel arrivals, 1855.
5,410
"Had we time and space we might be tempted to dwell at length upon the glowing picture suggested by the facts in the above general summary. The figures are themselves much more eloquent and ab- sorbing than any language at our command. . It may be said with justice that all the states north of Tennessee and the Caro- linas have sent their most energetic, intelligent citizens, with a mighty host of untiring energetic men from Europe to settle and subdue the vast and magnificent country lying between Lake Mich- gan and the Rocky Mountains. Twenty years ago Chicago was not a city. She was only an insignificant town at the southern end of Lake Michigan and within that period the wolves during the night roamed all over where the city now stands. Only twenty-two years ago the Indians were removed. Twenty years ago an occa- sional schooner visited Chicago; two hundred and thirty-three ves- sels are now wintering in her harbor; in 1855, 5,410 vessels arrived at Chicago. She is now acknowledged to be the greatest primary grain port in the world."-(Annual Review, 1856.)
RECEIPTS OF BEEF CATTLE AND SOURCES OF SUPPLY.
1857.
1858.
1859.
1860.
Lake
9
21
44
Galena Ry.
3,906
11,388
18,146
17,646
Illinois Central
18,028
19,134
17,197
22,551
C. B. & Quincy.
14,400
40,531
24,596
73,918
Rock Island
2,108
16,124
16,807
19,601
Chicago & Milwaukee.
83
554
508
C. A. & St. Louis ..
8,970
29,736
7,086
12,839
C. & Northwestern.
534
1,130
2,823
8,155
Michigan Central
578
16
226
84
Michigan Southern
2,045
216
C. P. & Ft. W.
253
191
Totals
48,524
118,151
89,754
155,753
Vol. I-38.
664
HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY
HOGS .-
-CATTLE
Received.
Shipped.
Received.
Shipped.
1861.
657,002
280,094
204,579
124,146
1862.
1,348,890
491,135
209,655
112,745
1863.
1,900,519
810,453
298,381
293,217
1864
1,582,047
701,854
336,627
179,520
1865
876,572
599,049
333,362
242,766
RECEIPTS.
Year.
Cattle.
Hogs.
Sheep.
Horses.
1866
392,604
933,233
209,737
1,283
1867
327,650
1,696,748
179,427
Record missing
1868
324,524
1,706,782
270,875
1,636
1869
403,102
1,661,896
340,072
1,524
1870
532,964
1,693,158
349,885
3,537
RECEIPTS OF WHEAT AND CORN, BUSHELS.
Year.
Wheat.
Corn.
1861
17,539,909
26,543,283
1862
13,978,116
29,449,328
1863
11,180,344
1
26,450,568
1864
11,257,196
13,623,087
1865
9,465,618
25,125,638
The indifference of Chicago merchants and capitalists to the trade beyond the Mississippi was the wonderment of reviewers. St. Louis tried to have the railway bridge at Rock Island removed. In 1860 77,219,217 pounds of freight were sent west of the Mississippi and 122,200,564 pounds were sent east. To all this Chicago was indif- ferent. St. Louis tried desperately to divert that trade to herself.
The Chicago Board of Trade, by special action in the summer of 1860, resolved: "That this Board do most cordially approve of the aforesaid treaty (with Canada) and the reciprocal relations which have grown up with our Canadian neighbors under its operation and do most earnestly but respectfully remonstrate against any action of our government for its termination." Trade was then carried on with Canada under the reciprocity treaty of 1854. But Mr. Hatch in his report to Congress on the operation of the revenue laws and the reciprocity treaty recommended "the speedy abrogation of the treaty as the proper radical and sufficient remedy to relieve the United States from the commercial bondage beneath which the operation of the treaty itself and 'the unfriendly legislation of Pro- vincial Parliaments have placed the United States in exchange for the commercial freedom granted to the Canadas.' "-(Annual Re- view, January, 1861.)
For 1857-8-9 freight rates on the lakes were ruinously low, so that nearly all owners of shipping lost money.
"Chicago never before offered so many inducements to merchants and especially to manufacturers of all kinds. Stimulated by the high rentals previous to 1858, property owners built extensively and since then the very low price of labor and materials has induced hundreds of owners to make substantial improvements upon their property. For years there have not been so many empty stores and dwellings
665
HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY
here as there are now, because so large an addition has been made to the permanent improvements of the city."-( Annual Review of Chi- cago, January, 1861.)
The fact that a good market for everything he raised could be found at Chicago, was sufficient inducement for the Western farmer to plant and raise extensively.
"Notwithstanding we are in the fourth year of the slaveholder's rebellion and in the midst of the greatest Civil war ever known, the vast resources of the great North continue to be developed even more rapidly than ever before. Not only have our agriculturists, but also our manufacturers, merchants and mechanics, enjoyed during the year now about closed, an almost unexampled prosperity."- (Tribune, Saturday, December 31, 1864.)
In 1865 the Chicago merchants adopted the credit system-sell- ing on time. In 1865 the Chicago Clearing House was established. The Chicago Stock Exchange was organized January 5, 1865.
The following is a condensed statement of the seven National banks for the quarter ending December 31, 1864:
Discounts
$3,244,181.71
Currency and specie on hand.
3,095,693.87
Individual deposits 3,081,893.38
Government deposits
1,460,969.43
Circulation
1,678,800.00
In 1870 there were sixteen National banks doing business as fol- lows :
Capital
$ 6,550,000 -
Surplus, etc
3,041,359
Deposits
16,774,514
Circulation
4,906,424
There were also nine or ten private banks, capital $3,000,000.
CLEARING HOUSE RETURNS.
Clearings. Balances.
1870
$810,676,036
$80,910,416
1869
731,446,111
73,831,000
Pork packing in the West had fallen off for several years past. The greatest season of this city was that of 1862-3, when Chicago packers cut up 970,264 hogs. It fell to 507,355 head in 1865-6; in- creased to 792,942 in 1867-8; again fell off and amounted to only 688,140 in 1869-70.
HOG KILLING.
1870-1.
1869-70.
Chicago
918,087
688,140
Cincinnati
500,066
337,330
Louisville
250,000
182,000
St. Louis
305,600
241,316
Milwaukee
240,000
172,626
Indianapolis
105,000
43,232
-
666
HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY
It has often been a cause of conjecture to superficial students of history why Chicago and not Calumet should have sprung into popu- lation, prominence and power, but when the facts are laid bare, it is at once seen that results could not have been otherwise. The Treaty of Greenville (1795) gave to the Government a tract six miles square at the mouth of the Chicago river. This tract was the only land of the present Cook county owned by the Government until many years later. As the Government did not invade Indian lands until authorized to do so by treaty, Fort Dearborn necessarily was located on the six-mile tract at the mouth of Chicago river in 1803. The presence of the fort brought to its immediate vicinity traders, settlers, agents, etc., because there they received protection from the Indians. These facts gave the mouth of Chicago river an immense advantage, and accordingly, when Cook county was created in 1831 with Indians still here, Chicago with about 90 population was made the county seat mainly because the fort was still garrisoned. The presence of the fort still aided its growth until it had gained an immense lead by the time the last of the Indians were removed in 1835-6. Later its wonderful growth continued, thus completely blighting the ambition of the Calumet region to become the Western metropolis.
POPULATION OF CHICAGO. (Nearly all except decennial years are estimates.)
1812
20
1851.
34,437
1820
25
1852.
38,734
1825
40
1853.
60,662
1830
55
1854.
65,872
1831
(Fall)*
90
1855.
80,023
1832
(Fall)
110
1856.
84,113
1833
(Spring)
150
1857
86,000
1833
(December 1)
850
1858.
92,000
1834
(May)
1,100
1859.
96,000
1834
(July)
1,400
1860
109,263
1834
(September)
1,700
1861
120,000
1835
(November)
3,265
1862
138,186
1836
3,820
1863.
150,000
1837
4,170
1864.
161,288
1838
4,200
1865.
187,446
1839
4,310
1866.
200,418
1840
4,479
1867.
220,000
1841
5,752
1868.
252,054
1842
6,248
1869.
273,043
1843
7,580
1870.
298,977
1844
8,000
1880.
503,185
1845
12,088
1886.
703,817
1846
14,169
1890.
1,099,850
1847
16,859
1896.
. 1,516,635
1848
20,023
1900
1,698,575
1849
23,047
1904.
1,932,315
1850
.29,963
1908.
2,166,055
(*See "Early Cook County and Chicago,"
1779-1840, Vol. I.)
4
In 1909 there were in Chicago 116 fire companies, 33 hook and ladder companies and 8 fire insurance patrols.
667
HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY
Previous to 1908 and including the gifts of that year, John D. Rockefeller gave to the University of Chicago a total of $23,515,322.
In 1891 Chicago erected 11,805 buildings estimated to be worth $54,201,800; the next year it erected 13,194 estimated to be worth $64,740,800. This was high water mark due to the boom incident to the World's Fair. In 1893 the number of buildings erected drop- ped to 8,559 and by 1900 had decreased to 3,554, estimated to be worth $19,100,050. Since then the number has continued to in- crease generally, being in 1906, 10,629, estimated to be worth $64,- 822,030.
The official population of Cook county by decades is as follows : 1840, 10,201; 1850, 43,385; 1860, 144,954; 1870, 349,966; 1880, 607,719; 1890, 1,191,922; 1900, 1,838,735; 1910,
The total bonded debt of Cook county in 1909 was $9,360,000. In 1907 there were 1,937 delinquent boys and 539 delinquent girls in the Juvenile court. The same year there were 896 dependent boys and 791 dependent girls in the same court. Of these 1,400 delinquents and 675 dependents were put on probation.
The total appropriations of Cook county for the fiscal year 1907-8 were $8,460,601.62. This was to the full extent of the estimated resources. In 1905 the Chicago manufactures amounted to $955,- 036,277 in value. In 1907 the total appropriations of Chicago for all purposes amounted to $49,671,209.29. The assessed valuation of Chicago property was $476,770,399. The bank clearings for 1907 amounted to $12,087,647,870.08. On the city pay rolls were 22,774 names. Estimated passenger trains arriving and departing in one day, 1,594. Total police force 4,345. Postal receipts fiscal year 1907-8, $14,598,991. Pupils enrolled in the public schools, 292,581. Railroads entering the city, 26. Total number of saloons, 7,120. Number of public schools not including branches, 274. Hos- pitals, 73 ; libraries, 21 ; medical schools, 34 ; newspapers and period- icals, 750; acres in parks, 3,196; sewer mileage, 1,726; sidewalk mileage, 5,000; street railway mileage, 1,350; mileage of streets and alleys, 4,251; teachers in public schools, 6,106; theatres, 38; 5-cent theatres, 340; water used in 1907, 165,934,823,150 gallons; actual value of real and personal property of Chicago, $2,383,851,995; asylums, 88; banks, state and National, 68; area of the city, 190.64 square miles ; population, 1908, estimated 2,166,055.
In 1837 Chicago had 6 wards and 10 aldermen; 1847, 9 wards and 18 aldermen; 1857, 10 wards and 20 aldermen ; 1863, 16 wards and 32 aldermen ; 1869, 20 wards and 40 aldermen ; 1876, 18 wards and 36 aldermen ; 1888, 24 wards and 48 aldermen ; 1889, 34 wards and 68 aldermen ; 1901, 35 wards and 70 aldermen.
The total deaths in Chicago from all causes for 1906 were 29,048, and for 1907 were 32,143. The grade of down-town streets has been raised three times: 1855, 1857 and 1872, in all from six to eleven feet, or a total of fourteen feet above city datum which was low water mark in 1847.
668
HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY
SCHOOL STATISTICS.
Year.
Enrollment.
Number of Teachers.
1841.
410
5
1850.
1,919
21
1860
14,199
123
1870
38,939
557
1880
59,562
898
1890
135,541
2,711
1900
.255,861
5,806
In 1908, not counting law and medical schools, there were en- rolled in all educational institutions in the city exclusive of the pub- lic schools, a total of 3,333 teachers and 104,795 pupils. In the law schools there were 114 teachers and 1,300 pupils; in the medical schools were 281 teachers and 2,633 pupils.
The total appropriations for corporate purposes in Chicago in 1908 were $23,643,382; from water fund, $6,535,109.63; board of education, $17,721,575 ; public library, $475,000; grand total, $48,- 375,066.63.
The fixed assets of Chicago in 1907 were as follows: Corporate property, $14,780,920.30; waterworks, $45,114,470.81; schools, $47,903,491.69; public library, $2,526,104.48; grand total, $110,- 324,987.28.
The valuation of taxable property of Chicago has been as follows : 1840, $94,437; 1850, $7,220,249; 1860, $37,053,512; 1870, $275,- 986,550; 1880, $117,133,726; 1890, $219,354,368; 1900, $276,- 565,880; 1910,
The tax levy for the same years is as follows: 1840, $4,721.85; 1850, $25,270.87; 1860, $373,315.29; 1870, $4,139,798.70; 1880, $3,899,126.98; 1890, $9,558,335; 1900, $18,384,195.36; 1910,
In 1907 Cook county paid out $411,042.41 for charity service. There were admitted to the detention hospital 1,836 patients; to the Cook county hospital, 26,118 patients; poor families relieved, 6,151 ; daily average inmates of insane hospital, 1,693; daily average in- mates of consumption hospital, 233 ; daily average inmates of poor- house, 1,175.
The following shows the beef and pork packed in Chicago for the years ending March 1 :
Cattle.
1892-3. . . .
2,469,373
Hogs. 4,352,095
1900-1 . . 1,814,921
7,364,859
1895-6 ..
1,810,593
5,490,410 8,016,675
2,163,976
6,763,685 6,079,641
1898-9. 1,603,380
1,988,504
1903-4. 1906-7. Cattle.
Hogs.
The drainage canal was first inspected and designed in 1885. The bill was signed May 29, 1889, and the district was formally organ- ized January 18, 1890. Shovel day was September 3, 1892. Water was first turned into the completed canal January 2, 1900, and Jan- uary 17, 1900, the canal was formally opened. The main channel is 28.05 miles long. Total amount of excavation, 42,229,635 cubic yards. Minimum depth of water in main channel, 22 feet; current
669
HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY
-
velocity, 1.25 to 1.9 miles per hour ; width at bottom, 110 feet to 202 feet. The total receipts to December 31, 1907, were $58,747,233.23, and the total expenses, $58,617,346.77.
In 1892 the real estate sales of Chicago were 19,283, and the con- sideration $153,169,047. This was high water owing to the Col- umbian Exposition. In 1898 the sales numbered 13,358, the con- sideration being $93,100,276. Since then the increase has been steady, though up and down, amounting to 26,380 in 1906, the con- sideration being $131,982,811.
CHICAGO BANK STATISTICS.
Years.
Clearings.
Balances.
1898
$ 5,517,335,476.66
$558,107,047.54
1900
6,799,535,598.36
623,931,299.40
1902.
8,394,872,351.59 653,199,396.54
1904.
8,989,983,764.40
739,806,074.15
1906.
11,047,311,894.50
735,239,699.40
1907
12,087,647,870.08
727,408,863.87
The bank clearings in 1870 amounted to $810,676,036; in 1880, to $1,725,684,894 ; in 1890 to $4,093,145,904. For the week end- ing March 4, 1865, the clearings were $5,474,608.19; week ending March 11, 1865, $6,507,117.96; week ending March 18, 1865, $7,- 343,758.92 ; week ending March 25, 1865, $5,756,829.29; week end- ing April 1, 1865, $5,670,434.12; approximate total for March, 1865, $29,000,000. By August, 1865, this approximate total aggre- gated $52,000,000. In March, 1907, the clearings were $1,065,- 975,562.22, or nearly 40 times more than in March, 1865.
In 1908 Chicago had 13 municipal playgrounds and three munici- pal bathing beaches. The total attendance of the playgrounds in 1907 was 1,585,960.
In 1870 the vessel arrivals were 12,739, aggregating a tonnage of 3,049,265, and the clearances 12,433, with a tonnage of 2,983,- 942. Since then there has been a general change until in 1907 they were as follows: Arrivals 6,745, tonnage 8,057,062; clearings 6,736, tonnage 7,995,211. These figures include South Chicago, Michigan City, Waukegan and Chicago. Merchandise worth $26,- 528,028 was imported to Chicago in 1907.
The daily capacity of the Union Stock Yards is as follows : Cat- tle, 75,000; hogs, 300,000; sheep, 125,000; horses, 6,000. From 1866 to 1907 inclusive the yards received 87,804,114 cattle, 4,943,- 305 calves, 254,859,208 hogs, 83,705,895 sheep and 2,401,556 horses. Of all these there were received in 1907, 15,248,479 head in 287,981 cars all valued at $319,202,239. On February 10, 1908, there were received 87,716 hogs; on November 16, 1908, 49,123 cattle ; on May 1, 1906, 9,284 calves ; on September 29, 1902, 59,362 sheep; on March 6, 1905, 2,177 horses, and on January 11, 1904, 3,223 carloads of live stock. These were high-water marks.
In 1907 there was a total of 91 bridges across the Chicago river,
.
670
HISTORY OF COOK COUNTY
of which 69 were kept up by the city and 22 by the railroads. There were 34 viaducts in 1907.
A 5-foot water tunnel was built to Chicago avenue in 1867; an- other 7-foot tunnel was built to the same place in 1874; another of same size and to the same place was begun in 1887. In 1892 an 8-foot tunnel to 14th street was built from the 4-mile crib; a 10-foot tunnel was built in 1898; a 7-foot tunnel in 1896; another 7-foot tunnel in 1898 and a 14-foot tunnel is under construction in Hyde Park now. The above are water tunnels. In addition there are eight land tunnels conveying water to all distant parts of the city. There were 18 water-pipe tunnels under Chicago river in 1907. The cribs are the 2-mile, built in 1867 ; 4-mile, built in 1891 ; Lake View, built in 1896; Hyde Park, built in 1896; C. H. Harrison, built in 1900. These cribs cost over $1,100,000. The appraised value of Chicago waterworks on December 31, 1907, was $40,800,775.
In 1907 there were 11 taxing boards levying taxes in Chicago as follows: State tax, county tax, city tax, school tax, library tax, sanitary district tax, South Park system tax, West Park system tax, Lincoln Park tax, Ridge Park tax, and North Shore Park district tax. The average rate of taxation in 1907 throughout the county was about $7.35 on each $100.
The Art Institute of Chicago was instituted in 1879 and is located on the Lake front. It now ranks among the best three or four in the United States. It is open to membership to all friends of art upon the payment of $10 annually. Connected with it is a school of instruction in art; the pupils now average about 3,000 a year. The Chicago Academy of Sciences is in Lincoln Park; its museum is excellent.
The Chicago City Railway Company is operating under the ordi- nance of February 11, 1907, which was approved by the city electors on April 2, 1907. The net profits of the company are divided be- tween city and company as follows : 55 per cent. to the city and 45 per cent. to the company. Pay-as-you-enter cars are a recent inno- vation and are popular.
The total number of miles of railroad track elevated from May 23, 1892, to December 31, 1907, was as follows: Main track, 122.83 miles; all tracks, 681.29 miles; subways constructed, 553; total cost, $46,520,250.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.