Chicago (inhabited place)
Subject
Subject Source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
Scope Note: Located on post-glacial plain beside Lake Michigan, noted for extremes in climate. Site was visited by the French in the 17th century; it was a fur-trading post, then an Army post. It expanded greatly in the 19th century due to its strategic position; was a center of transportation and industry. Much of the city was destroyed by fire in 1871, and rebuilt. It is noted as the birthplace of an important architectural development, the steel-frame skyscraper.