The Great Chicago Fire was one of the most devastating disasters in American history. Occurring in October 1871, the fire ravaged Chicago for three full days, destroying over 17,000 structures and claiming hundreds of lives. Even today, over 150 years later, the Great Chicago Fire remains a source of mystery and intrigue.
Below are 55 riddles that provide clues about key events, people, causes, and outcomes related to the legendary Great Chicago Fire of 1871. Each riddle question is followed by an detailed answer that sheds light on this impactful moment in Chicago’s storied past.
Causes & Origin Riddles
Riddle #1: What reportedly sparked the first flames of the Great Chicago Fire?
Answer: The original fire sparked in or around a barn leased by Patrick and Catherine O’Leary at 137 DeKoven Street. Though the exact cause was never officially determined, local legend holds that the blaze started when a cow in the O’Leary’s barn knocked over a lantern.
Riddle #2: On what date did the Great Chicago Fire begin its raging path through the city?
Answer: The fire started on October 8, 1871. It burned fiercely for two full days before finally dying down in the early hours of Tuesday, October 10th.
Riddle #3: What unusual weather phenomenon occurred the day before the fire started, setting the stage for disaster?
Answer: Strong winds blew in from the southwest on October 7th. These winds eventually gusted up to 45 miles per hour, fanning the flames throughout the city once the fire began.
Destruction & Aftermath Riddles
Riddle #4: Roughly how many homes and buildings were destroyed in the Great Chicago Fire?
Answer: More than 17,000 structures were destroyed across 2,100 acres of the city.
Riddle #5: What fraction of Chicago’s total property valuation was lost in the blaze?
Answer: The destroyed property represented about one third of Chicago’s total real estate value at the time.
Riddle #6: How many miles long was the burnt district left by the Great Fire?
Answer: The burnt region stretched 4 miles long from north to south.
Riddle #7: What major Chicago transportation hub was one of the few structures that survived the flames?
Answer: Though much of the surrounding area burned, Chicago’s railroad freight yard and train stations remained standing throughout the fire.
Riddle #8: Roughly what percentage of Chicago’s total population was left homeless by the Great Fire?
Answer: Around one third of Chicago’s 324,000 residents at the time lost their homes in the fire, leaving nearly 120,000 people homeless.
Riddle #9: What large local landmark was being constructed when the Great Fire broke out nearby?
Answer: Construction had begun in 1868 on the Cook County Courthouse, which stood partially-complete in the fire’s path.
Riddle #10: How did Chicago Mayor Roswell Mason attempt to squelch looting in the fire’s aftermath by ordering the city police to do what?
Answer: The Mayor controversially ordered police to shoot and kill suspected looters.
Deaths & Injuries Riddles
Riddle #11: How many people lost their lives in the Great Chicago Fire?
Answer: While complete records were not kept of fatalities, estimates typically cite around 300 deaths from the fire.
Riddle #12: What tragic incident on the Randolph Street Bridge likely contributed dozens of casualties?
Answer: As flames approached the river’s south branch on Sunday night, a large crowd bottlenecked dangerously on the Randolph Street Bridge. When a nearby gasworks exploded, many were trampled, fell from the bridge, or jumped into the river.
Riddle #13: Out of thousands impacted, how many total fire-related fatalities were officially documented by the coroner?
Answer: Only 120 deaths were actually confirmed and documented by the city coroner in the wake of the event.
Heroics & Helping Hands Riddles
Riddle #14: Who was Chicago’s mayor at the start of the Great Fire in 1871?
Answer: Roswell B. Mason became Chicago’s mayor in 1869 and led evacuation and recovery efforts after the fire started.
Riddle #15: Who was the fire department leader widely hailed as a hero for his rescue efforts when the blaze broke out?
Answer: Battalion Chief Mathias Benner helped save many lives, earning him the nickname “Hero of the Chicago Fire.”
Riddle #16: From what local cemetery were coffins exhumed to aid homeless citizens after the fire?
Answer: City officials allowed coffin removal from a burial ground near Clark and Wellington to provide improvised housing.
Riddle #17: Roughly how much relief aid was donated to Chicago immediately following the fire’s end?
Answer: Chicago quickly received around $5 million in donations for reconstruction, equal to over $100 million today.
Myths & Misconceptions Riddles
Riddle #18: Which famous circus was NOT performing in Chicago when the Great Fire started nearby?
Answer: Despite urban legends, records confirm the P.T. Barnum circus was on tour elsewhere at the time.
Riddle #19: What incorrect rumor circulated about Chicago violence and looting in the fire’s wake?
Answer: Early reports falsely claimed mobs controlled bridges over the Chicago River, blocking fire department water access.
Riddle #20: Which notorious FBI criminal from Chicago was NOT actually born until over 20 years after the Great Fire occurred?
Answer: Al Capone, often connected to Chicago history, was not born until 1899.
Riddle #21: Name one of the two bizarre theories about the fire’s cause suggested at times by Chicago Tribune editor Joseph Medill.
Answer: Medill theorized the blaze could have been started by a flaming meteorite or a crazed firebug arsonist.
Geography & Location Riddles
Riddle #22: What major body of water forms Chicago’s eastern border that nearly halted the fire’s spread?
Answer: Lake Michigan’s shoreline prevented the fire from expanding further eastward into the city.
Riddle #23: The fire originated on DeKoven Street, between which two parallel Chicago avenues?
Answer: DeKoven Street sits between Halsted Street and Jefferson Street on Chicago’s West Side.
Riddle #24: Construction debris from what famous Chicago structure was partially blamed for feeding the fire’s growth?
Answer: Renovation refuse from the Crosby Opera House was pointed to as a fire spreader.
Riddle #25: Which direction did strong pre-fire winds blow from, accelerating the blaze north and east?
Answer: Powerful southwesterly winds drove the flames and embers forward.
Business & Commerce Riddles
Riddle #26: Only one Chicago bank survived the fire’s path – which institution was it?
Answer: Thanks to special fireproof vaults, the First National Bank of Chicago was the lone holdout.
Riddle #27: The iconic Chicago Water Tower building was among the only downtown structures to endure – why did it survive?
Answer: Its unique stone construction and fireproof water pumps protected the Gothic revival tower.
Riddle #28: The stone walls of the Omnibus Stables spared all its livestock – what sort of creatures stayed safely sheltered inside?
Answer: The stables housed a fleet of Chicago’s rental horses, keeping them protected.
Riddle #29: Which two Chicago newspapers were forced to combine temporarily due to office damages after the fire swept through the city?
Answer: The Chicago Tribune shared space with the Chicago Evening Post for a short period.
Innovation & Recovery Riddles
Riddle #30: Nearly the entire Chicago business district was lost – so where did commerce first resume after the fire?
Answer: Retail stores and restaurants immediately popped up in shantytowns near the lakefront.
Riddle #31: Around 65,000 Chicago citizens were left to face a tough Midwestern winter without shelter – so what emergency measure did the City Council enact?
Answer: The Council quickly relaxed building restrictions and codes to enable rapid reconstruction.
Riddle #32: How soon after the fire had destroyed nearly all infrastructure did the Chicago Board of Trade resume commodities trading?
Answer: Incredibly, open outcry pit trading picked back up only two days later.
Riddle #33: By what year had Chicago recovered from the fire damage well enough to host a World’s Fair?
Answer: Chicago held the hugely popular 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition just 22 years post-fire.
Riddle #34: Daniel Burnham, the architect behind the 1890s Chicago World’s Fair, also helped rebuild the city after the fire – which grand civic structure was he chosen to design?
Answer: Burnham oversaw construction of Chicago’s iconic Flatiron Building in the years following the blaze.
Timeline & Dates Riddles
Riddle #35: On what month, day and year did Mrs. O’Leary’s Cow allegedly kick over an oil lantern to start the legendary Chicago fire?
Answer: The exact date the fire began was October 8, 1871.
Riddle #36: How many hours did it take for the fire to burn itself out and be declared officially extinguished by authorities?
Answer: The fire raged fiercely for around 36 hours until dying down.
Riddle #37: For nearly 150 years now, at what exact time have fire bells rang annually in Chicago to commemorate the start of the Great Fire?
Answer: Bells ring every October 9 at 9:00 PM across Chicago in memory of the outbreak.
Riddle #38: How long had Catherine and Patrick O’Leary occupied the cottage at 137 DeKoven Street before it burned down, allegedly starting the legendary citywide blaze?
Answer: Records show the O’Leary family had lived on DeKoven Street for about 5 years when the crisis struck.
Riddle #39: How many hours passed between the first sighting of flames and when catastrophe spread citywide?
Answer: Within 1 hour of initial sightings, the blaze was uncontrollable across Chicago.
Statistics & Numbers Riddles
Riddle #40: What staggering percentage of Chicago’s total land area was utterly destroyed by the 3-day fire?
Answer: More than 2,000 acres were burnt, equal to over 3 square miles or 1/3 of Chicago’s land mass.
Riddle #41: How many acres of prime real estate went up in flames?
Answer: Over 2,100 acres in the city’s center were lost.
Riddle #42: At the fire’s start in 1871, there were only around 185 paid firemen to serve Chicago’s nearly 300,000 residents – so how many alarm boxes existed across the city to report fires?
Answer: With few firefighters, there were over 600 fire alarm boxes installed around Chicago.
Riddle #43: Economic losses topped $200 million – how much would that equate to in today’s dollars adjusted for inflation?
Answer: By some modern estimates, total property damage exceeded $12 billion in current dollars.
Riddle #44: How many homeless Chicagoans were forced into emergency shelters set up around the city months after the blaze?
Answer: More than 120,000 left destitute continued relying on aid shelters through the winter.
Religion & Churches Riddles
Riddle #45: Which historic Chicago cathedral burned down on Monroe Street during the first night of flames?
Answer: St. Mary’s Catholic Church, the city’s first, perished in the blaze.
Riddle #46: Built from blue stone and limestone, which Presbyterian church constructed in 1860 miraculously survived amid total destruction of its surrounding neighborhood?
Answer: Second Presbyterian Church stood nearly untouched after the firestorm.
Riddle #47: Reverend Robert Collyer, pastor of a famous lost Chicago church, later helped rebuild the city and became president of what Ivy League university years later?
Answer: Robert Collyer eventually headed Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
Politics & Government Riddles
Riddle #48: Who was the Governor of Illinois when Chicago fell victim to its disastrous 3-day fire?
Answer: John Palmer governed Illinois throughout the ordeal in 1871.
Riddle #49: Which constitutional amendment was ratified that same year as the fire, barring former Confederates from federal office?
Answer: The U.S. in 1871 passed the 14th Amendment excluding ex-Confederates.
Riddle #50: Only two years after the Chicago fire, Senator John Logan helped establish which federal holiday honoring veterans?
Answer: Senator Logan led efforts creating Decoration Day, known now as Memorial Day.
Pop Culture Riddles
Riddle #51: The hit song “Mrs O’Leary’s Cow” about kicking over an infamous lantern was performed by what popular American folk music duo of the 1960s?
Answer: Dick and Arlene Lundy released the tune on their album Chicago, Chicago.
Riddle #52: What 1981 disaster movie starred Henry Fonda as Mayor R.B. Mason leading Chicago amidst a deadly inferno?
Answer: In the Fist, Fonda’s Mayor Mason combats a fictional 1979 blaze.
Riddle #53: The 1997 family film Barnyard Mambo featured what famous comedian providing the voice of Al the Bull, whose nose piercing supposedly sparks another Chicago fire?
Answer: Sinbad voices the lead bull character Al in the lighthearted animated movie.
Riddle #54: The song All Burned Up from Heklina’s 2017 drag musical Tranz-Amorous imagines Mrs. O’Leary torching Chicago to collect what form of insurance money?
Answer: In the fictional song, the O’Learys scheme to fraudulently collect cow theft coverage funds.
Riddle #55: What 1980siconic arcade game challenged players to navigate Chicago streets and extinguish flames as fast as possible?
Answer: In Fire Truck, players raced a virtual fire engine through the city battling blazes.
Conclusion
The Great Chicago Fire remains a pivotal, dramatic moment for the Windy City over 140 years later. As these riddles show, the event and its impacts still fuel our curiosity and reveal surprising details even today. Beyond the flame-filled folklore, the disaster also demonstrates Chicago’s unmatched resilience in the face of adversity – rising quite literally from the ashes after three fiery nights in 1871 to become a global metropolis.