Moving - Chicago, Illinois

Are you planning on moving your family in or out of Chicago, IL? You'll need a reliable moving company to help you with your plans. Movers USA is a full service company which can handle all phases of your move. We offer packing, crating, moving and storage. Click here for a free estimate to begin your moving process.

In the meantime, enjoy a brief history of Chicago, IL 

A Brief History of Chicago, Illinois

The first permanent settlement was founded in 1781 by Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, an African American from Santo Domingo. The location at the mouth of the Chicago River was chosen for its strategic value for a trading post as the river connected the Lake with the Mississippi river. Later the area at the mouth of the Chicago River was occupied by a military base, Fort Dearborn. The Fort was regularly attacked by Native Americans, until Chief Black Hawk was defeated in 1832. One year later, Chicago was officially incorporated as a town and four years later, when the population reached 4170, as a city. Its name was derived from the native Indian's word describing the area.

With the arrival of the railroads, the city of Chicago really started to boom reaching a population of 300,000 in 1870. One year later, disaster struck with the Great Chicago Fire laying the city in ashes. The fire destroyed about 17450 buildings, but the Chicagoans quickly started to rebuild the city. Just 6 weeks after the fire, construction of more than 300 buildings had already begun. And in 1893 Chicago had recovered well enough to host the 1893 World Columbian Exposition, commemorating the discovery by Columbus of America 400 years ago.

The foundations of today's Chicago were laid out by some of the leading architects reconstructing the city after the Great Fire. Daniel Burnham designed the first visionary urban plan for a city, the 1909 Chicago plan.