Place · United States
The history of Chicago
Assembled from 2 dug tiles · 25 sourced records · 730–2019 · last reviewed 16 October 2026
Chicago's ground carries two hard records close together: North Desplaines Street, where a bomb killed seven police officers in 1886 and set off a trial that hanged four anarchists, and West Randolph Street, where a 1903 theatre fire killed over 600 before a 1926 movie palace rose on the same site.
These are the individual spots Strata has dug in Chicago — not a guide to the town, but a record of what happened on particular ground.
Digs in Chicago
A 1926 movie palace, now a Broadway houseThis point sits inside the Nederlander Theatre at West Randolph Street, a working Broadway venue in Chicago's Loop. Nederlander Theatre
1803–2019 A bronze sculpture marking a bombing and trial
This point sits beside the site of the Haymarket affair, on North Desplaines Street in Chicago. Haymarket affair
730–2017
Chicago in layers
The Chicago and North Western Railway Power House, now on the National Register of Historic Places, stands a few streets northeast and once supplied electricity for the railroad's operations. Wikipedia - Chicago and North Western Railway Power House
Fort Dearborn, an early Chicago military post, no longer exists but its name is preserved in the federal gazetteer of lost places. GNIS
24 W Randolph St
A movie theater called the Colonial Theatre stood on this site until it was demolished in 1924 to make way for the Oriental Theatre. Wikidata
730–1634
Radiocarbon testing at a site about 1.2 kilometers away (11CK4) produced dates ranging from the Bronze Age through roughly AD 1634, showing people occupied this stretch of the Chicago River valley for thousands of years before the city existed. Illinois Site Files / Digital Index of North American Archaeology
Near Wacker Drive and Michigan Avenue
Fort Dearborn, a U.S. military post established in 1803, stood about half a kilometer from this spot before Chicago grew up around its site. FamilySearch
Near Fort Dearborn, Chicago
A cemetery for the soldiers and settlers of Fort Dearborn and its garrison was established in 1805, several blocks from where you stand, before Chicago was incorporated as a city. FamilySearch
from 1846
Old St. Patrick's Church, founded as a parish in 1846, stands about 600 meters south and is one of the few Chicago buildings to survive the 1871 fire. Wikidata
1855
First Congregational Church, built in 1855, is the oldest dated structure recorded within a few blocks of this spot. Wikidata
1864-1871
A wooden Randolph Street Bridge spanned the Chicago River nearby from 1864 until 1871, the year the Great Chicago Fire swept the city. Wikidata
Downtown Chicago Loop
The Great Chicago Fire of October 8-10, 1871, burned roughly 3.3 square miles and about 17,000 structures, crossing the river into the heart of downtown where this block stands. Wikipedia
36 W Randolph St
Two blocks from the theater, the Delaware Building has stood since 1874 and is a protected Chicago Landmark. Wikidata
May 4, 1886
On May 4, 1886, an unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police dispersing a labor rally here, and the blast and gunfire that followed killed seven officers and at least four civilians. Wikipedia - Haymarket affair
1886-1893
Eight anarchists were charged with the Haymarket bombing, convicted of conspiracy though only two were even present, and four were hanged on November 11, 1887, before Governor John Peter Altgeld pardoned the rest in 1893. Wikipedia - Haymarket affair
1886
A building at West Lake Street, put up in 1886, carries a National Register of Historic Places listing a short walk from here. Wikidata
24-28 West Randolph Street
On December 30, 1903, a matinee crowd packed the brand-new Iroquois Theatre on this site when an arc light ignited a muslin curtain, and more than 600 people died, making it the deadliest theater fire in U.S. history. Wikipedia / Consumer Grouch historical blog
1909
Clinton station, serving the CTA's Green and Pink Lines a couple hundred meters away, opened on October 16, 1909, and was later rebuilt. Wikipedia - Clinton station (CTA Green and Pink Lines)
Near the Loop
The Goodyear Wingfoot Air Express, a blimp, crashed into a Loop building on July 21, 1919, a short walk south of this spot. Wikidata
24 West Randolph Street
The Rapp brothers built the Oriental Theatre, a lavish movie palace with India-inspired decor, on the exact footprint of the burned-out Iroquois, and it opened on May 8, 1926, as part of the Masonic office building now known as the Nederlander Theatre. Broadway In Chicago / Wikipedia
Nederlander Theatre, 24 W Randolph St
In October 1934, twelve-year-old Frances Gumm performed here with her sisters as 'The Gumm Sisters,' and after the act drew laughs, emcee George Jessel urged them to rename themselves the Garland Sisters — Frances later became Judy Garland. Wikipedia
24 W Randolph St
The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 as the 'New Masonic Building and Oriental Theater.' Wikipedia
Nederlander Theatre, 24 W Randolph St
Declining crowds and the rise of exploitation films drove the Oriental to close as a movie house in 1981, after which its lobby became an electronics store while the grand auditorium stood vacant for over a decade. Historic Theatres & Movie Palaces of Balaban and Katz
1992, 2004
Chicago designated the Haymarket site a city landmark in 1992 and dedicated a memorial sculpture there in 2004, after an earlier police statue on the spot had been bombed by radicals in 1969. Wikipedia - Haymarket affair
Nederlander Theatre, 24 W Randolph St
Canadian company Livent restored the gutted theater with city backing and a Ford Motor Company sponsorship, reopening it on October 18, 1998, with a reconfigured 2,253-seat house. Wikipedia
2012-2017
Grace operated steps away as a fine-dining restaurant from 2012 until it closed in 2017. Wikipedia - Grace (restaurant)
Questions about Chicago
What is Chicago known for historically?
Among other things, the Haymarket affair of May 4, 1886, when a bomb thrown during a labor rally on North Desplaines Street killed seven police officers and at least four civilians, leading to the conviction of eight anarchists and the hanging of four.
What happened at Haymarket Square in Chicago?
A bomb was thrown at police during a labor rally on May 4, 1886, killing seven officers and at least four civilians. Eight anarchists were convicted of conspiracy on thin evidence between 1886 and 1893, and four were hanged. The city landmarked the site in 1992 and placed a bronze sculpture there in 2004.
What happened at the Iroquois Theatre in Chicago?
A fire on December 30, 1903, at the theatre on West Randolph Street killed more than 600 people. The Oriental Theatre, a movie palace, was built on the same ground in 1926.
What is the Nederlander Theatre in Chicago?
It occupies West Randolph Street, the site of the Oriental Theatre built in 1926 after the Iroquois Theatre fire. Listed on the National Register in 1978, it closed in 1981, sat empty for 15 years, and reopened in 1998 after a $13.5 million restoration as a working Broadway venue.
Is there a memorial to the Haymarket affair in Chicago?
Yes. A bronze sculpture dedicated in 2004 stands on North Desplaines Street near where the bomb exploded, at a site the city landmarked in 1992.