Chapter 11 - The Agricultural Core

Having a long history of interaction with the agriculture industry, Chicago rose to fame on the slaughter houses and train depots that supplied the nation with a wide range of food stuffs.  Not only did the city provide a rail depot, it also provided a safe harbor to ship goods down through the Mississippi River Valley or up and out the the east coast cities by the great lakes.

"Although agriculture was practiced byNative Americans living in the area, it was not until settlers from the eastern United States arrived that Chicago began to emerge as the agricultural leader of the world.

The years between the first schooner-load of grain to leave Chicago in 1839 and the 1865 opening of the Union Stock Yarddefined Chicago's agricultural heritage. The opening of the Illinois & Michigan Canal, the construction of railroads, Cyrus McCormick's and Obed Hussey's competitive manufacturing of grain reapers and other implements, the beginning of the Chicago Board of Trade, and the extremely favorable growing seasons of 1849, 1850, and 1851 all combined to strengthen Chicago's importance to the agricultural business community.

Likewise, developments after the American Civil War maintained Chicago's role as the leading agricultural city. Development of the refrigerated railroad boxcar, dredging and expansion of the city's harbor, and the establishment of the corn and livestock belt expanded the agricultural prosperity and reputation of the city.

In the twentieth century, changing technology and the expansion of the Chicago region's population have continued to adversely affect the daily role of agriculture. The Union Stock Yard began declining in the 1950s as better methods of carcass transportation decentralized the meatpacking industry away from the Midwestern transportation centers. Two decades later the Stock Yard itself fell victim to recession and closed. Meanwhile, largegrocery store conglomerates with their own independent supply and distribution systems facilitated the demise of most local fresh-produce growers."
-Encyclopedia Of Chicago