The January 16, 1967 McCormick Place Fire, Chicago, Illinois.

McCormick Place, an exhibition center on Chicago’s Lake Shore Drive, opened in November 1960. The center included a theater, several restaurants and banquet rooms, and over 500,000 square feet of exhibition space.

In January of 1967, McCormick Place hosted the National Housewares Manufacturers Association Show, which featured nearly 1,250 booths selling kitchen and household appliances. The event was scheduled to open on Monday, January 16, but, at around 2 AM that morning, McCormick Place janitors noticed smoke rising from a small fire at the back of an exhibition booth.

The janitors waited to raise the alarm and instead attempted to extinguish the fire themselves by beating at it with brooms and pieces of carpeting. The flames quickly spread to the walls of the booth, prompting the janitors to call the Chicago Fire Department. Firefighters responded immediately and, within five minutes of the first alarm, an officer on-scene ordered a second alarm.

By 2:30 AM, five alarms were sounded, bringing 94 apparatus and over 500 fire and rescue personnel to the scene. Fire fighting efforts were severely delayed, however, as four of the seven McCormick Place fire hydrants were shut off.

To attack the flames, firefighters had to draft water from Lake Michigan and rely on fire hydrants a quarter-mile away. The fire was extinguished by 10AM, around the time the N.H.M.A. show was scheduled to begin, but McCormick Place was essentially destroyed.

Initial investigations by the City of Chicago exposed several serious fire safety issues that had been overlooked by McCormick Place management. The exhibition area did not have fire sprinklers or fire walls, and fire proof materials did not protect the steel roof supports. Also, most of the electrical wiring for the booths did not follow electrical safety standards, as the facility was still using temporary electrical systems for the exhibition are as. Most tragically, one McCormick Place security guard was killed in the fire, presumably because he could not find an unlocked emergency exit. Other employees who escaped the blaze confirmed that they had never been told how to find unlocked emergency exits.

In the months following the fire, the Illinois Inspection and Rating Bureau launched a comprehensive investigation into the McCormick Place Fire and published a detailed report on its findings. The investigators did not determine a definitive cause, but it is assumed that the temporary electrical wiring started the fire. The report did, however, shine light on many of the difficulties the firefighters faced, noting how “firefighting was seriously hampered because of lack of adequate water, intense heat, rapid fire spread, early roof collapse and unstable exterior panel walls.” The report helped to bring about numerous changes to the Chicago Municipal Code, as ordinances on exhibition halls, electrical facilities, emergency exits, fire walls, and smoke and heat vents were soon revised based on the lessons learned from the McCormick Place Fire. 

by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Edited by Neil Gale, Ph.D. 

Kiddieville (Amusement Park), Niles, Illinois. (c.1936-c.1966)

Amusement Park Name History: 
Kiddieville (Amusement Park), Niles, Illinois (c.1950 – c.1966)
East Maine Miniature Rides, Niles, Illinois (c.1939 – c.1949)
East Maine Miniature Train, Niles, Illinois (c.1936 – c.1939)

Long ago, the property at the very north end of what is now the Golf Mill Shopping Center in Niles, Illinois (Incorporated 1899), was land owned by farmers John and Anna Schwinge (pronounced 'swing'). He owned 80 acres bounded by today's Greenwood Avenue on the west, Golf Road on the north, the Bruhn farm on the south (approximately where Emerson Street is now), and crossed over Milwaukee Avenue.

Sometime around 1935, Anna Schwinge was approached by a carpenter from the northwest side of Chicago named Herbert Fritz (a relative of Art Fritz, the founder of Kiddieland in Melrose Park, Illinois in 1929). Herbert Fritz purchased a miniature train in Chicago. Unfortunately, he didn’t have room for it in the city, so Herbert offered to purchase 10 acres from the Schwinge's, but settled for a lease. 

On the northeast corner of Schwinge's property was the perfect location for a miniature train. Milwaukee Avenue was the only paved road in 1936. By the following summer, Schwinge's “East Maine Miniature Train” sold rides for 3¢ to the area families and travelers from the city.

There was a story about Herbert Fritz attending the Bruhn-Pries wedding in the late 30s and took the entire wedding party on a midnight train ride. The train track was a huge oval running north and south along the east side of Milwaukee Avenue up to Golf Road at the north end of the property.

Over the next few years, Herbert Fritz and his wife, Laura, bought and built new rides, including pony rides. Three years later, they changed the park's name from “East Maine Miniature Train” to “East Maine Miniature Rides.” Their son, Herbert "Herby" Fritz Jr., joined the armed forces in 1942, and after his tour of duty ended in 1946, he joined his family's amusement business.

The business began to flourish as soldiers returned home from WWII and started families. Schwinge added a merry-go-round, a boat ride, a Ferris wheel, a small car ride, a tilt-a-whirl ride, airplane ride, fire truck ride, rocket ride, and finally added the miniature roller coaster.

The Schwinge's changed the name of their park to “Kiddieville.”

Many of the locals, kids, and adults, were employed at Kiddieville. The miniature railroad was expanded with more train cars and a longer track, which then encompassed the entire ten-acre park perimeter.

There were plenty of jobs to be had, from selling tickets, walking the ponies, operating a ride, or working in the concession stand. Unfortunately, some rides were rickety and unsafe, and the park was sued a few times by riders claiming injuries.

50 Rides $43.50 Today (or 87¢ per ride).

The park was sold in 1966. It became Finks Links” a miniature golf course, and the location of the “Children’s Bargain Town, U.S.A.” toy store. In 1971, Toys "R" Us merged with the chain and continued using the "Children's Bargain Town" as their slogan until the early 1980s. Today, the location is a Patel Brothers grocery store.

VISIT OUR KIDDIEVILLE SOUVENIR SHOP

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.