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Cook County building demolition, Washington and Clark, 1904-5.

The Chicago Historical Society was founded in 1856, but its first building and virtually all of its early collections were lost in the Great Chicago Fire. This structure, the Society's third home, was built on the same site as the first two, at the northwest corner of Dearborn and Ontario Streets. After the Chicago Historical Society moved to its current location at Clark Street and North Avenue in 1932, this building went through a series of owners and uses, though the original name remains inscribed in stone over the entrance.

All lost …

This illustration of the mouth of the Chicago River in 1831 taken from a sketch by Mrs. Kinzie illustrates the importance of the army post and its relationship with the river and Chicago’s small frontier settlement. Then Kinzie House sits on the river directly across from Fort Dearborn.

The Sisters of Mercy, a Catholic order from Ireland, converted the Lake House on the river near the Rush Street bridge into Mercy Hospital, the first chartered hospital in Chicago, in 1852. In 1859, Mercy Hospital became the first Catholic hospital to affiliate with a medical school, Lind Medical School. (Sisters of Mercy Chicago Regional Community Archives.)

Chicago Tribune Building, late 1850s. The Tribune evolved as an early supporter of the Republican Party. Notice the McVickers Theater to the left of the building. (Chicago Public Library, Special Collections and Preservation.)

This view of the lumberyards along Clark Street between Twelfth and Fourteenth Streets about 1870 shows the vastness of their operation along the South Branch of the river. (ICHi-03740, Chicago History Mu.)

The Livestock Exchange Building in the Union Stock Yards became the center of the nation’s livestock industry as packinghouse buyers and livestock commission men created a national market emanating from Chicago. (Postcard, Author’s Collection.)

Burnt District Coffee House after the Fire, 1871. Chicago entrepreneurs quickly reacted to establish or reestablish businesses in the fire district. (Chicago Public Library, Special Collections and Preservation Division.)

The tugboat Binghampton passes the Adams Street swing bridge, ca. 1895.

This is Chicago’s first electric streetcar or “trolley,” which began operation in 1890. Notice the similarity in design to the cable cars. (Chicago Public Library, Special Collections and Preservation Division.)

Forgotten underground: Incredible pictures of Chicago's abandoned, labyrinth tunnels once used to transport coal, ventilate movie theaters and hide phone cables