1857, January 29, Neighbors Burned Down a House of Ill Repute, Chicago.

At about 2 o'clock in the morning, a building in the southwestern portion of the city was burned. It had been occupied as a lewd house for some time, to the great annoyance of the neighbors and was empty at the time, the police having arrested all the inmates and locked them in the Bridewell [1], about 10 o'clock the same night. 

Chicago House of Correction, 26th and California Avenue, Chicago, 1868-1928.

The fire was probably the work of some exasperated neighbors who determined to have the nuisance thoroughly abated.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

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[1] The Bridewell was a municipal jail that housed petty criminals, vagrants, and drunks. It was located at Polk and Wells Streets, in the city's "vice district." The jail was a two-story building with three rooms. The first room was used for debtors, the second for drunks, and the third for vagrants. The jail was filthy and overcrowded, and the conditions were often inhumane. The Bridewell was closed in 1860. It was replaced by a new jail, the Cook County Jail, located at Hubbard and State Streets.

The name "Bridewell" comes from a similar institution in London, England. The London Bridewell was founded in 1555 as a workhouse for the poor. It later became a jail for petty criminals and vagrants. The Chicago Bridewell was modeled after the London Bridewell.

Chicago Tribune, Port of Chicago Article, April 18, 1849 (First Newspaper).

In 1849, there was quite a bit of shipping traffic in Chicago.

VIA LAKE MICHIGAN

ARRIVED

April 20, 1849:

Schooner, J.C. Spencer, Muskegon—80 meters (262.5 ft) lumber.

April 23, 1849: 

Brigantine, Helfenstein, Milwaukee—ballast

Schooner, Amanda Harwood, Grand Haven—90 meters (295 ft)

Schooner, Bowen, Kalamazoo—35 meters (115 ft) lumber, 16 meters shingles (52.5 ft)

Schooner, Muskegon, Muskegon— 70 meters (230 ft)

Schooner, Niagara

Schooner, Ronicus

Schooner, Telegraph, Grand Haven—100 meters (328 ft) lumber.

CLEARED

April 21, 1849:

Sloop Michigan, Buffalo—343 hides, 8 pkg sundries, 752 barrels flour, 179 barrels pork

Propeller Princeton, Buffalo—1140 barrels beef, 200 hides, 30 pkg furs

VIA THE CANAL

ARRIVED

April 21, 1849:

Shakespeare, Joliet

April 23, 1849:

Granger, Athens (renamed Lemont in 1850)

Wm. Giles, Athens (renamed Lemont in 1850)

CLEARED

April 21, 1849:

Calaract, LaSalle

Diamond, LaSalle

General Davis, LaSalle

General Fry, Lockport

Hollister, LaSalle

Indians, LaSalle

St. Louis, LaSalle

Wasp, Joliet

April 23, 1849:

Chicago, LaSalle

J.T. McDougal, Joliet

Wm. Giles, Athens (renamed Lemont in 1850)

Brigantine - A brigantine is a two-masted sailing vessel with a fully square-rigged foremast and at least two sails on the main mast: a square topsail and a gaff sail mainsail (behind the mast). The main mast is the second and taller of the two masts.

Propeller - The first propeller ship was invented by John Ericsson in 1836, and the first commercial propeller ship was the SS Archimedes, which was launched in 1838.

Schooner - Schooners were used to transport cargo along the coasts and between islands. They were particularly well-suited for this purpose because they could sail close to shore and in shallow waters. This picture is a replica of the 1847 C.W. Lawrence.

Sloop - A sloop is a sailboat with a single mast typically having only one headsail in front of the mast and one mainsail aft of (behind) the mast. Such an arrangement is called a fore-and-aft rig and can be rigged as a Bermuda rig with triangular sails fore and aft or as a gaff-rig with triangular foresail(s) and a gaff rigged mainsail.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.