Ward Map of City of Chicago

Scarce Depression-era map of Chicago’s election wards.

This simple map of Chicago shows the Windy City divided into fifty separate wards – each represented by an alderman that serves a four-year term on the City Council. Ward boundaries – generally streets- are carefully defined. Apart from the Chicago River, Drainage Canal, and Calumet Waterway, few other details are provided.

Dated July 19, 1931 and published by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners. At the time, the city was beginning to develop its notorious identity as a Prohibition-era stronghold of bootleggers and gangsters. Al Capone was convicted of tax evasion in October, and the cash-strapped municipal government could not meet payroll the following February.

Source: Encyclopedia of Chicago;