City Secrets is a Modern mental_floss feature sharing captivating fact and fib from the histories of famous city .
The City of Big Shoulders , The Windy City , City on the Make — no matter what you call it , Chicago has plenty of stories ( and arcanum ) to recount . Here ’s but a small selection .
1. O’HARE AIRPORT IS NAMED AFTER THE HEROIC SON OF AL CAPONE’S LAWYER.
Chicago ’s airport — which by some count is thebusiest in the universe — was to begin with named Orchard Field . In 1949 , at the suggestion of Chicago publishing baron Robert R. McCormick , it was rename O’Hare Airport to honour Edward “ Butch ” O’Hare , a Navy fighter pilot and Medal of Honor recipient who perished in World War II .
While Butch O’Hare ’s valorousness is well - document , his father ’s fib is notable as well . Edward J. O’Hare , a.k.a . “ Easy Eddie , ” was a lawyer , dog cut owner , and concern fellow of Al Capone , often operate on as direction for the notorious crime boss . The two mother along swimmingly until Capone was consign with taxation evasion in 1931 — charges that shoot from O’Hare’scooperation with the government .
In 1939 , in short before Capone was paroled and exhaust from Alcatraz , “ Easy Eddie ” O’Hare was shot to dying in his car by two men at the crossroad of Ogden Avenue and Rockwell Street . While no one knows for certain whether or not the hit was tell by Capone , the murder had all the marking of a gangland assassination .
2. THE CHICAGO FIRE WAS BOUND TO HAPPEN.
Wikimedia Commons
Mrs. O’Leary and her cow get a sorry strike . First of all , the moo-cow is likely destitute ; its theorise culpability for the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 is nothing more than the result of unsubstantiated rumor and bovine denigration . second , the city would ’ve burn down preferably or later , as it was a tinder corner waiting for the slightest spark . As DePaul University professor Joseph P. Schwietermantold WBEZ , “ Fires would have been inevitable . ”
The city was obtusely jam with wooden homes , buildings , and over 561 land mile of wood sidewalk . After the blast , wood structure was banned in business district Chicago , a move that stymy Chicago’sotherbig fire — a blaze started on the city ’s southside in 1874 that killed 20 masses and destroy about 47 acres — before it could fit or top 1871 ’s calamity . So , had the Great Chicago Fire not happened in 1871 , there would in all likelihood have only been a 3 - year wait for a similar occurrence .
3. THERE’S A SECRET CHICAGO SYMBOL ALL OVER THE CITY—YOU JUST NEED TO KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR.
Flickr UserDaniel X. O’Neil//CC BY 2.0
Chicagoans love their fleur-de-lis and they are n’t afraid to show it . ( Chances are , you get laid someone who get it on someone who knows someone who has a Chicago fleur-de-lis tattoo . ) The four crimson adept and two blue stripes are unmistakable , but the metropolis hasanotherubiquitous symbolisation — though itremains unnoticedby most Chicagoans as they go about their everyday clientele .
It ’s scream an “ prescribed municipal machine , ” and it was make in 1892 . Its appearing is delimit in the city code , which states , “ The municipal equipment , for use of goods and services by the varied unofficial involvement of the metropolis and its people , shall show a Y - shaped figure of speech in a circle , colored and designed to suit individual gustatory modality and motive . ”
The symbol represents where the three subdivision of the Chicago River meet , and it can be spotted everywhere from theflashy marqueeof the Chicago Theater to lamp C. W. Post , traffic control boxes , manhole covers , library , and more .
Now that you make out what it expect like , you wo n’t be able to miss it .
4. THE CHICAGO RIVER WON A MASSIVE COURT CASE …
As Chicago grew in the late 19th century , so did its contamination . Waste from factories and citizens flowed down the Chicago River into Lake Michigan — the city ’s water source — and became a public wellness luck . Chicago responded by doing the seemingly impossible : In 1900 , locomotive engineer from the Sanitary District of Chicago reversed the flow of the river . job solved … for Chicago .
At the other destruction of the river ’s path posture St. Louis , and all that waste and pollution from Chicagoans flowed down into the source of that city ’s drunkenness piddle , the Mississippi River . Missouri sued Illinois and , because it was a dispute between states , the caseful was heard by the Supreme Court . The highest court in the landruled in Illinois ’ favorin 1906 , decide that Missouri could n’t prove the sewerage was needfully Chicago ’s and that the river did n’t seem any dissimilar from before .
5. … THE RIVER LOST A BIG LAWSUIT, TOO.
Flickr UserAntonio Bovino//CC BY 2.0
Fast - forward to the 1920s : Chicago was drawing so much piddle from Lake Michigan to flush its sewerage , water level in all the Great Lakes ( except for Lake Superior ) depart to observably recede . The effects were so striking , seaport in nation as far away as New York reported lessened shipping capability . These states action and aprolonged and complicated court caseresulted in Chicago having to build up its own sewage handling plants .
queerly enough , the body politic that was on Illinois ’ side during this battle ? Their old foe Missouri , who had taken a liking to their port ' increased water heights courtesy of the converse Chicago River .
6. THERE’S A TUNNEL SYSTEM DOWNTOWN TO SHIELD CHICAGOANS FROM THE WEATHER.
Flickr UserJohn Greenfield//CC BY 2.0
The Chicago Pedway allow pedestrians to travel through a large incision of the Loop without having to face the winter cold ( or summer heat , or spring shower bath , or come down … pleasantness ) . The tunnels , nosepiece , and concourses that make up the Pedway feature film shop , restaurants , and access to geartrain systems .
expression on the Pedway began in 1951 , and it ’s getting bigger all the clip [ PDF ] . Currently , it connects an expanse longer than 40 blocks , and some approachable highlights include City Hall , the Chicago Cultural Center , and Millennium Park . And , because it ’s Chicago , you’re able to go on aguided architecture tourinside the Pedway .
7. PEOPLE WHO SHOVEL THEIR SIDEWALKS WELL ARE ELIGIBLE FOR AN AWARD FROM THE CITY.
As anyone who has cleared a parking space andcalled “ dibs ” on itwith a lawn chair and three - legged Weber grillroom will tell you , shoveling is a swelled deal in Chicago . To humour , the urban center has an prescribed dirty money for shoveling excellence : The “ Winter Wonder ” Award .
Winners get a shoutout on the Chicago Department of Transportation website and obtain an “ award signed by the co - chairs of MPAC”—that ’s the Mayor ’s Pedestrian Advisory Council , natch .
8. ACCESS TO THE CITY’S BEST SKYSCRAPER OBSERVATION DECKS COSTS YOU ONLY A DRINK OR DINNER.
Flickr UserTheeErin//CC BY - SA 2.0
sure as shooting , it may not be a cheap drink or dinner , but it ’s a far more relaxed way of life to take in the skyline . To name a few , the John Hancock’sSignature Room at the 95th , Lake Point Tower’sCité , and ( if you ’re willing to become a extremity ) the Aon Center’sMid - America Cluball extend unbelievable views to go along with your repast .
Lake Point Tower ’s view is especially rare . The building — which was , for a time , the marvellous flat construction in the humanity — is the only edifice in Chicago thatsits east of Lake Shore Drive . When it was build in the mid-60s , it was one of three . The change happen in 1987 , when a section of Lake Shore Drive was rerouted to remove dangerously sharp turns , and the new path take it east of the other two building — but not Lake Point Tower , making it a Chicago anomaly .
9 . THE BEAUTIFUL LAKEFRONT IS THANKS TO A CRANKY AND combative CATALOG BARON .
Flickr Userdtadd//CC BY - SA 2.0
If you ’ve ever taken a jog on one of Chicago ’s lakefront paths or relaxed on one of the urban center ’s beaches , you have Aaron Montgomery Ward to thank . After making a hazard with his mail service - order catalog business , Ward spend his twilight years sue into oblivion anyone who dared to attempt to build up secret belongings on the lakefront .
Citing Daniel Burnham ’s originalPlan for Chicago , which states that the lakefront was to be " Public Ground — A Common to rest Forever Open , Clear , and Free of Any Buildings , or Other Obstruction , " Ward spent a considerable part of his circumstances making sure Burnham ’s words were honored , dragging anyone who tried to build private prop on the lake to tourist court . In 1909 , the Supreme Court of Illinois backed Ward , and city ’s lakefront has remained public to this day . After the ruling , he remarked :
If only all lawsuits reaped such reward .
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