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About David Laurino
Extant Chicago based companies include the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy (formerly Aurora Branch Railroad) and the Chicago, Rock Island
& Pacific (formerly Chicago & Rock Island). The Burlington
& Rock Island pushed westward to the Mississippi and later into the
trans Mississippi West. The Michigan Southern (soon to become the
Michigan Southern & Northern Indiana, and later part of the New
York Central system), arrived in Chicago from the East in 1852. Another
future component of the New York Central, the Michigan Central,
appeared that same year. But an all rail link between Chicago and New
York City was not forged until 1858, when a unit of the Pennsylvania
system, the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne & Chicago, opened its Chicago
extension.

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the 1880s residents of Chicago could rightly claim that their city was
the railroad mecca of America. Chicago was served by nearly a score of
long distance rail carriers and several switching and terminal
companies. Forty years earlier Chicagoans had seemed sanguine about the
future of water transport, whether on the Great Lakes, inland rivers,
or canals. The advent of steam powered vessels after the War of 1812
had significantly shortened the travel time between destinations on
navigable bodies of water and the city was advantageously situated at
the mouth of the Chicago River on the southwestern shore of Lake
Michigan. Moreover in the 1840s, prospects looked good for construction
of a strategic ditch, the Illinois & Michigan Canal, to link the
Chicago and Illinois Rivers and hence connect Lake Michigan and the
Mississippi River system. This 96 mile canal opened in 1848.

Chicagoans correctly perceived transportation as both a cause and
an effect of urban development and they strove to enhance their
facilities. Better transport, however, meant more than better
waterways. Caught up in the fad of plank roads during the 1840s,
residents endorsed placement of wide wooden planks across timber
stringers to create a solid surface over the muddiest stretches of
road. By the early 1850s there were seven such thoroughfares. But the
continual expense of upkeep and the failure of privately owned plank
road companies to generate profits dampened interest.

David Laurino

AD Kids Information: Many visitors never make it past the
attractions downtown, but you haven't truly seen Chicago until you have
ventured out into the neighborhoods. Chicagoans understand their city
by splitting it into large "sides" to the north, west, and south of the
central business district (the Loop). Chicagoans also tend to identify
strongly with their neighborhood, reflecting real differences in
culture and place throughout the city. Rivalries between the North and
South Sides run particularly deep, while people from the West Side are
free agents in critical issues like baseball loyalty.

Chicago was known as a fine place to find a wild onion if you were
a member of the Potawatomi tribe, who lived in the area before European
settlers arrived. It was mostly swamps, prairie and mud long past the
establishment of Fort Dearborn in 1803 and incorporation as a town in
1833. It could be argued that nature never intended for there to be a
city here; brutal winters aside, it took civil engineering projects of
unprecedented scale to establish working sewers, reverse the flow of
the river to keep it out of the city's drinking supply, and stop
buildings from sinking back into the swamps and that was just the first
few decades.

By 1871, the reckless growth of the city was a sight to behold,
full of noise, Gothic lunacy, and bustling commerce. But on October
8th, Mrs. O'Leary's cow reportedly knocked over a lantern in the
crowded immigrant quarters in the West Side, and the Great Chicago Fire
began. It quickly spread through the dry prairie, killing 300 and
destroying virtually the entire city. The stone Water Tower in the Near
North is the most famous surviving structure. But the city seized this
destruction as an opportunity to rebuild bigger than before, giving
canvas for several architects and urban planners who would go on to
become legends of modern architecture.

At the pinnacle of its rebirth and the height of its newfound
powers, Chicago was known as The White City. Cultures from around the
world were summoned to the 1893 World's Colombian Exposition, to bear
witness to the work of Louis Sullivan, Daniel Burnham, and the future
itself. Cream of Wheat, soft drinks, street lights and safe
electricity, the fax machine, and the Ferris Wheel bespoke the colossus
now resident on the shores of Lake Michigan.

David Laurino

AD Kids
AD Kids Management Firm

AD Kids
AD Kids Inc

After the events of September 11, 2001, it was proposed that the
era of the super tall skyscraper was over; people did not want to live
or work in what were, essentially, big attack targets. Funding dried up
for a while, and modest designs were the word of the day.That didn't
last long. Chicago is too wrapped up in the idea of the skyscraper to
stop building them, and in time, the economic backing returned:
Chicago's downtown is undergoing an unprecedented residential real
estate boom, leading Forbes Magazine to declare the 60602 zip code the
hottest in the country.