Chicago USA City of Chicago
Chicago is the largest metropolitan area in the state of Illinois, as well as the largest in the Midwest, and the third most populous city in the whole United States of America. The Chicago metropolitan area numbers a population of about 9,4 million people in Illinois, Wisconsin, and Indiana, making it also the third largest metropolitan area in the United States of America.
The city was founded in 1833 in order to link the Great Lakes with the Mississippi River System. At that very time the population of the city was about 350 but within only seven years it grew to over 4,000. Starting with 1848 the city became an important transportation centre, which linked the western and eastern United States. It happened owing to the opening to the Galena and Chicago Union Railroad, Chicago’s first railway, and the Illinois and Michigan Canal as well. The last one made possible to connect the Great Lakes through Chicago to the Mississippi River. Hanks to its developing and flourishing economy Chicago grew from the city of about 290,000 to 1,7 people within 1870 and 1900!
After the Great Chicago Fire that the city endured in 1871, Chicago went through the rapid growth and rebuilding. During this period of the time the first skyscraper was raised. It had place in 1885.
The world-wide known University of Chicago celebrated its birth in 1892.
The year 1920 brought a great increase in the realm of Chicago industry and thus the Great Migration, consisting of thousands of Southern Blacks, who populate the city of Chicago till this very time.
The history of Chicago is closely linked with Lake of Michigan, as it as the main source of supplies when the city was founded. Lake Michigan is the third largest lake among the Great Lakes, and the average depth of Chicago’s shores is about 15-35 feet.
The climate of Chicago, as well as of almost all the Midwest cities, has a wide range of weather conditions. July is the warmest month (29 C), and January is the coldest month (-2, -10 C). Besides, summer is the rainiest of the year, when short rains and thunderstorms occur.
What makes the city really popular among visitors is Chicago’s architecture, rich with a host of skyscrapers and buildings of historic value at the same time.