Chicago: City of Commerce

 The growth of Chicago is inextricably connected to commerce. Situated at a crucial connection between Lake Michigan and river systems leading inland, Chicago rapidly grew in the nineteenth century. Chicago's Board of Trade, established in 1848, represents the development of futures trading as a response to the vast amount of resources flowing through Chicago and its broad hinterlands.

 The 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago showcased the rising importance of the city. Over a period of five months, twenty-seven million visitors toured the attractions at the fairgrounds, including exhibitions of social, cultural, and technological progress.

 In 1909, architect Danial Burnham and Edward Bennett proposed a grand Plan of Chicago that sought to organize and improve the bustling city. Though not all of the plan came to fruition, some elements still persist to influence Chicago today, most notably the preservation of parks and green space along Chicago's lakefront.

 Carl Sandburg once referred to Chicago as the "Hog Butcher for the World." Sitting at the heart of a spiderweb of rail tracks leading throughout all of the midwest, Chicago was the premier destination for farmers seeking to sell pork and beef. "The Yards" formed Chicago's meatpacking district, processing millions of animals per year.

 Chicago also served as the center for the nation's mail-order businesses. With both Sears and Montgomery Ward based in Chicago, the massive amount of mail orders and deliveries coming in and out of the city required a sizable investment in infrastructure. When opened in 1921, the Old Chicago Main Post Office was the largest post office in the world.

 Though blessed with the providence of nature, Chicago's leaders continually sought to improve its geography even further. Transportation via waterways was key: over the years, Chicago saw the creation of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, the straightening of the existing river, and even the reversal of the Chicago River in 1900 to prevent the pollution of Lake Michigan.

 In 1933, Chicago's Century of Progress International Exposition reflected how far the city had come in the forty years since the Columbian Exposition. Chicago's place had permanently solidified as one of the largest and most important cities in America. Commerce drove its explosive growth through the nineteenth century and continued success in the twentieth.