10/11/1871: “All gone but wife, children, and energy”

A few days before we officially opened 1871 in the Merchandise Mart on May 2nd, 2012, Scott Kluth, the Fouder and President of local entrepreneurial success story, CouponCabin, gave us an incredible gift to mark the occasion.  I’d like to mark this historic day for Chicago with the writing from this lithograph – which you can see next time you visit 1871.

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On October 11th, 1871, the day after the Great Chicago Fire ended, William Kerfoot set up an office at 89 Washington Street to continue his real estate business, the first building to appear after the fire.  He hung this sign in front of his little shack: “All gone but wife, children, and energy”.  Just four day’s after the fire started in the O’Leary barn, the people of Chicago showed their spirit and began to rebuild their beloved city.

This is a Original 1893 halftone print of a drawing of the first building erected after the Great Chicago Fire that burned from October 8 – 10, 1871 and destroyed much of the city.  This print was sold at the World’s Columbian Exposition (also known as the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair) which was held from May to October 1893 in honor of the 400th Anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of the new world.

Good luck to all those at 1871 who are resetting the boundaries of what’s possible in Chicago.