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51 Chicago Panoramas From the Library of Congress Catalogue

Yesterday, Chicago magazine posted an eye-opening flipbook of turn-of-the-last-century Chicago panoramas harvested from the Library of Congress' extensive collection. The 51 images offer a rare look at our city, and with their sweeping scope the shots capture historic events such as the 1893 Columbian Exposition, the devastation left in the wake of the 1871 Chicago fire, and of course, the 1909 Cub-Sox Championship series in a way most old timey pictures can't. There's also wrenching captures of the Eastland Disaster and Iroquois Theater Fire. Definitely worth checking out for a glimpse of how dramatically the skyline, the lakefront, and other familiar sights have transformed – or, you know, to see what a local pork factory looked like circa 1900 (spoiler alert: not great), back when heavy industry was a thing.
·51 Spectacular Panoramic Photos of Turn-of-the-Century Chicago [Chicago Mag]

—Gwendolyn Purdom