Blanchard’s Guide Map of Chicago

A remarkable map capturing the commercial spirit of a rebuilt Chicago, two years after the city was devastated by the Great Fire.

This rare pocket map of Chicago was issued by prominent local publisher Rufus Blanchard in 1873, roughly two years after the Great Fire destroyed over three square miles of the city and left over 100,000 residents homeless. Blanchard’s own establishment was among those consumed by the blaze, but like many of his contemporaries, he re-established his mapmaking enterprise with remarkable speed.

Apart from a faint dotted boundary outlining the “Burnt District,” the map looks decidedly to the city’s future rather than its ruin. The detailed base map provides a comprehensive street plan and transit overview, with the city limits outlined in bright red. Delicate pastel hand-coloring distinguishes Chicago’s twenty political wards (compared to fifty today), while soft green highlights the public park system and the interconnected boulevard network, including Lincoln, Humboldt, Douglas, Central, and Lake Parks (Central and Lake Parks were later renamed Garfield and Grant Parks, respectively). Rail lines, depots, and yards are prominently rendered along the river branches, and key municipal landmarks such as the Board of Trade, the Brighton Trotting Park, and the Bridewell Prison are clearly identified.

The map is tipped onto the interior cover of a scarce promotional booklet printed by the Phoenix Job Printing Company. The publication functions as a directory of the rebuilding boom, packed with trade advertisements for building contractors, hardware suppliers, iron wholesalers, dry goods retailers, and fire insurance agencies. The Goss & Phillips Manufacturing Company, a major supplier of architectural woodwork, sashes, and doors, is featured on the front cover. Also bound within is an early street guide, offering a vital lookup table for the dense network of newly platted and renamed thoroughfares.