3-034-702 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The Great Fire at Chicago: stock-yards, 1871. Before the fire. One of the great trades of Chicago '...is the curing and packing of pork...The statistics show that, in 1870, the number of hogs dressed in Chicago was 688,141...At Chicago there were about fifty firms engaged in this business. They had immense live-stock yards, as well as curing and packing establishments. The Great Union Stock-yards covered a space of 345 acres, with accommodation for nearly 120,000 animals - cattle, hogs, and sheep. There were said to be in these yards 31 miles of drainage, 7 miles of streets and alleys, 3 miles of water-troughs, 10 miles of food-troughs, 2300 gates, 1500 open pens, and 800 covered pens. In the construction 22,000,000 ft. of timber were used, at a cost of 1,675.000 dols. The water was supplied by an artesian well 1100 ft. in depth. These stock-yards were four miles south of the city'. From "Illustrated London News", 1871.