It's hard to believe that as late as 1830,
Chicago was a desolate
fur-trading outpost. Within half a century, it become a manufacturing, agriculture and industrial center and the railroad capital of the country. Donald L. Miller, a history professor at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, chronicles the evolution of the "Windy City" and the people who made their mark in it. From railroad entrepreneur
George Pullman, to retailers
Richard Sears and Alvah Roebuck, to reaper inventor
Cyrus McCormick and architect
Frank Lloyd Wright, Chicago was built by innovators. With its system of mass transit, regimented work force, diverse immigrant groups and historic battles between private and public good, Chicago symbolizes the emergence of modern American life.
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Background Information
Chicago, Illinois, is the largest city on the Great Lakes. The European desire for North American furs motivated much of the early exploration and trade in the northern parts of North America. Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect whose works ranged from private residences to public buildings. Sears, Roebuck and Company used mail order catalogs to bring consumers goods to people throughout the United States.
