From Smithsonian.com, you can explore an interactive historical map of Chicago before the Great Chicago Fire. This detailed map, viewable through a virtual spyglass, is part of the David Rumsey Map Collection—a vast and valuable archive that has been growing since the 1980s. Rumsey, a renowned map historian, describes this particular piece as a rare and insightful look into the city’s past. His collection now includes over 150,000 maps, making it one of the largest private collections in the U.S. The map was created by Rufus Blanchard, a Chicago-based map publisher who thrived in the late 1800s. It was part of a guidebook titled *The Citizen’s Guide for the City of Chicago*, designed to help residents and visitors navigate the rapidly expanding city. Made from thin but durable paper, it was easy to carry—perfect for anyone exploring the bustling streets of 1868 Chicago. Rumsey highlights how the map captures the city’s growth, especially with the presence of seven major railroads converging on Chicago. “Chicago was a really busy town back then—it was exploding,” he says. Many of those railroads no longer exist today. If you look west of the city, you’ll see early subdivisions forming around existing streets, showing how neighborhoods developed in distinct, self-contained ways. But the most fascinating change is to the east, along Lake Michigan. “Chicago expanded into the lake,” Rumsey explains. “If you zoom in on the shoreline, you can see how much land was added compared to older maps.” The city used Lake Michigan to its advantage in many ways. Not only did they fill in parts of the lake to create more land, but they also built infrastructure like the “Lake Tunnel” and “Tunnel crib” in the upper-right corner of the map, which helped bring fresh water from the lake into the city. This map shows Chicago at the height of its growth—but just five years later, the Great Chicago Fire would destroy large portions of the city. On the map, you can see the areas that were burned, shaded in pink, green, and blue in the north, and yellow and blue in the south. Thanks, Jeff.

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