Website
Other

Chicago Historical Society: The Great Chicago Fire

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides information, and accounts about the Great Chicago Fire.
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Chicago Fire [Pdf]

For Teachers 5th
"Chicago Fire" is a one page, nonfictional, reading passage about the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 including information about the fire and the changes made as Chicago was rebuilt. It is followed by constructed-response questions which...
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Chicago Fire [Pdf]

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd
"Chicago Fire" is a one page, nonfiction passage about the great Chicago Fire of 1871, which burned the city constructed of wood, and its rebuilding using brick. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to...
Website
Other

Chicago Historical Society: Great Chicago Fire and the Web of Memory

For Students 9th - 10th
This online exhibition provides chronological information, eye witness accounts, primary source documents, photographs, and a mix of other resources that chronicle both the event itself and the ways in which it has been remembered over...
Primary
Other

The Great Chicago Fire

For Students 9th - 10th
Read a letter by Horace White of the Chicago Tribune to a fellow editor in Cincinnati in which he describes first-hand during the days of the Chicago Fire of 1871.
Website
Other

Chicago Historical Society

For Students 9th - 10th
A rich source of historical information on Chicago. Search through entries, historical sources, maps, and special features.
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: After the Chicago Fire [Pdf]

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
"After the Chicago Fire" is a one page, non-fiction, reading passage about how Chicago was rebuilt after the great fire. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; it...
Handout
Other

The Great Peshtigo Fire Page

For Students 9th - 10th
Forgotten in the fame of the Chicago Fire, Peshtigo suffered even more in the toll of dead, injured, and total destruction.
Primary
Other

Chicago Historical Society: Letter of William H. Carter on Chicago Fire

For Students 9th - 10th
A letter written by an eye-witness of the Great Fire of 1871, it gives details about how the fire spread quickly and efforts to fight the fire.
Article
University of Houston

University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity: No. 1266: Chicago Fire

For Students 9th - 10th
A new look at an old fire. How did it really start? Site presents some modern questions. This is a transcript of an accompanying radio broadcast.
Website
Other

Chicagology.com: The Great Fire of 1871

For Students 9th - 10th
Comprehensive site about the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Includes historical information on the start of the fire, the spread of the fire, the destruction and damage caused by the fire, and the fire's aftermath. Also includes picture...
Unit Plan
Polk Brothers Foundation Center for Urban Education at DePaul University

De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: Grant Park [Pdf]

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
"Grant Park" is a one page, nonfiction passage about Chicago creating a landfill by putting the trash from the Chicago fire in 1971 into the lake, on which they built Grant Park. It is followed by an open-ended question which requires...
Primary
University of Michigan

Making of America: The Lost City!

For Students 9th - 10th
This site from the University of Michigan provides the full text of "The Lost City!" published a bare year after the Chicago fire; includes illustrations and accounts of the fire.
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Neh: Edsit Ement: Evaluating Eyewitness Reports

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
In this lesson, students practice working with primary documents by comparing accounts of the Chicago Fire and testing the credibility of a Civil War diary.
Graphic
Curated OER

Two Men in the Ruins of the Chicago Fire. Credit: Corbis.

For Students 9th - 10th
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, NPR discusses past natural disasters in U.S. history, the challenges and the rebuilding. From the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 to Hurricane Andrew in 1992, read about the events that changed peoples lives.
Website
Other

Chicago Historical Society: Bygone Days in Chicago

For Students 9th - 10th
A great primary source, a extensive description of Chicago prior to the Great Fire by a reporter who worked on the Chicago Times. He describes Chicago as it was around 1862.
Website
Other

Chicago Historical Society: Alexander Hesler Climbs the Court House

For Students 9th - 10th
This resource provides pictures of Chicago from the roof tops.
Activity
Chicago History Museum

Chicago Historical Society: A Scrapbook of Chicago Photographs and Drawings

For Students 3rd - 5th
Printable drawings and photos about events in Chicago's history, such as the Great Fire of 1871, and of Chicago's architectural landmarks.
Graphic
Curated OER

Raging Fire After the San Francisco Earthquake. Credit: Corbis.

For Students 9th - 10th
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, NPR discusses past natural disasters in U.S. history, the challenges and the rebuilding. From the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 to Hurricane Andrew in 1992, read about the events that changed peoples lives.
Graphic
Curated OER

Library of Congress: Ruins After the Great Fire of Chicago: Courthouse

For Students 3rd - 8th
The ruins of the Chicago courthouse after the 1871 fire.
Graphic
Curated OER

People Stand Amid the Destruction in Johnstown

For Students 9th - 10th
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, NPR discusses past natural disasters in U.S. history, the challenges and the rebuilding. From the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 to Hurricane Andrew in 1992, read about the events that changed peoples lives.
Graphic
Curated OER

Flooding in New Orleans From Hurricane Betsy. Credit: Corbis.

For Students 9th - 10th
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, NPR discusses past natural disasters in U.S. history, the challenges and the rebuilding. From the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 to Hurricane Andrew in 1992, read about the events that changed peoples lives.
Graphic
Curated OER

Flooded Streets in Greenville, Miss. Credit: Corbis.

For Students 9th - 10th
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, NPR discusses past natural disasters in U.S. history, the challenges and the rebuilding. From the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 to Hurricane Andrew in 1992, read about the events that changed peoples lives.
Graphic
Curated OER

A Destroyed Building in Galveston. Credit: Corbis.

For Students 9th - 10th
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, NPR discusses past natural disasters in U.S. history, the challenges and the rebuilding. From the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 to Hurricane Andrew in 1992, read about the events that changed peoples lives.