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For information about the facilities in South Omaha, Nebraska, see Union Stockyards (Omaha). South Omaha Nebraska is a former city and current district of Omaha, Nebraska. The Union Stockyards of Omaha Nebraska were founded in 1883 in South Omaha by the Union Stockyards Company.
Union Stock Yards, 1941
Union Stock Yards, 1941

The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co. , or The Yards, operated in the New City community area of Chicago, Illinois for 106 years,[1] helping the city become known as "hog butcher for the world"[2] and the center of the American meat packing industry for decades. Neighborhoods Back of the Yards Back of the Yards is an industrial and residential neighborhood (located in the New City community area on the Southwest Side The City of Chicago is divided into seventy-seven community areas. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. The meat packing industry is an Industry that handles the slaughtering, Processing and distribution of animals such as Cattle From the Civil War until the 1920s and peaking in 1924, more meat was processed in Chicago than in any other place in the world. Causes of the war See also Origins of the American Civil War, Timeline of events leading to the American Civil War The coexistence of a slave-owning South [3] Construction began in June 1865 with an opening on Christmas Day in 1865. The Yards closed at midnight on Friday, July 30, 1971 after several decades of decline during the decentralization of the meat packing industry. Events 1419 - First Defenestration of Prague. 1502 - Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off Year 1971 ( MCMLXXI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. __FORCETOC__ Decentralization or Decentralisation (see Spelling differences) is the process of dispersing Decision-making governance closer to the people The Union Stock Yard Gate was designated a Chicago Landmark on February 24, 1972[4] and a National Historic Landmark on May 29, 1981. Located on Exchange Avenue at Peoria Street this entrance to the famous Union Stock Yards was originally designed by John Wellboorn Root of Burnham and Root in around 1875 Events 303 - Galerius, Roman Emperor, publishes his edict that begins the persecution of Christians in his portion of the Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A National Historic Landmark (NHL is a Building, site, Structure, Object, or District, that is officially recognized by the Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian defeats the Sassanid army in the Battle of Ctesiphon, under the walls of the Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 [5][6]

Contents

History

The Union Stock Yards in Chicago in 1878
The Union Stock Yards in Chicago in 1878

Before construction, tavern owners provided pastures and care for cattle herds waiting to be sold. A tavern or pot-house is loosely a place of Business where people gather to drink Alcoholic beverages and more than likely also be served Food With the spreading service of railroads, stock yards were created in and around the city. This article is part of the History of rail transport by country series [7] In 1848, small stockyards were scattered throughout the city along various rail lines. [8] There was a confluence of reasons necessitating consolidation of the stockyards: westward expansion of railroads, causing great commercial growth in a Chicago that evolved into a major railroad center; the Mississippi River blockade during the Civil War that closed the north-south river trade route; the influx of meat packers and livestock to Chicago. The Mississippi River is the second longest River in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to [8] To consolidate operations, the Union Stock Yards were built on swampland south of the city. A consortium of 9 railroad companies (hence the "Union" name) acquired a 320-acre swampland area in southwest Chicago for $100,000 in 1864. For other meanings see Union Station. See List of Union Stations for a specific station with the name The acre is a unit of Area in a number of different systems including the imperial and U The United States dollar ( sign: $; code: USD) is the unit of Currency of the United States; it has also been [9] The stockyards were connected to the city's main rail lines by 15 miles of track. [9] Eventually, the 375-acre site had 2300 separate livestock pens in addition to hotels, saloons, restaurants, and offices for merchants and brokers. Livestock is the term used to refer (singularly or plurally to a Domesticated Animal intentionally reared in an agricultural setting to produce such as Food [10] Led by Timothy Blackstone, a founder and the first president of the Union Stock Yards and Transit Company, "The Yards" experienced tremendous growth. Processing two million animals yearly by 1870, the number had risen to nine million by 1890. Between 1865 and 1900, approximately 400 million livestock were butchered within the confines of the Yards. [11] By the turn of the century the stock yards employed 25,000 people and produced 82 percent of the domestic meat consumption. [12] In 1921, the stock yards employed 40,000 people. [13] Two thousand of these worked directly for the Union Stock Yard & Transit Co. and the rest worked for companies such as meatpackers who had plants in the stockyards. [11] By 1900, the 475-acre stock yard contained 50 miles of road, and had 130 miles of track along its perimeter. [9] At its largest size, The Yards covered nearly a square mile of land, from Halsted Street to Ashland Avenue and from 39th (now Pershing Rd. ) to 47th Streets. [4][14]

Entry to the Union Stock Yards
Entry to the Union Stock Yards

At one time, 500,000 gallons a day of Chicago River water was pumped into the stock yards. Located on Exchange Avenue at Peoria Street this entrance to the famous Union Stock Yards was originally designed by John Wellboorn Root of Burnham and Root in around 1875 The Chicago River is 156 miles (251 km long and flows through downtown Chicago. So much stock yard waste drained into the South Fork of the river that it came to bear the name Bubbly Creek due to the gaseous products of decomposition. Bubbly Creek is the nickname given to the South Fork of the Chicago River 's South Branch, which is noted for its pollution due to the local stockyards dumping massive [9] The creek bubbles to this day. [15] When the City reversed the flow of the Chicago River in 1900, the intent was to prevent the Stock Yards' waste products along with other sewage from flowing into Lake Michigan and contaminating the City's drinking water. Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, and the only one located entirely within the United States. [13]

The meatpacking district was served between 1908 and 1957 by a short "L" line with several stops, devoted primarily to the daily transport of thousands of workers and even tourists to the site. The 'L' (variously and sometimes, styled "L" El EL or L) is a Rapid transit system that serves the city of The line was constructed when the City of Chicago forced the removal of surface trackage on 40th Street. [16]

Effect on industry

The size and scale of the stockyards, along with technological advancements in rail transport and refrigeration, allowed for the creation of some of America's first truly global companies led by entrepreneurs such as Gustavus Franklin Swift and Philip Danforth Armour. "Railroad" and "Railway" both redirect here For other uses see Railroad (disambiguation. Refrigeration is the process of removing Heat from an enclosed space or from a substance and moving it to a place where it is unobjectionable Gustavus Franklin Swift ( June 24 1839 &ndash March 29 1903) founded a meat-packing empire in the Midwest during the late 19th century Philip Danforth Armour ( 16 May 1832 &ndash 6 January 1901) was an American Businessman who founded Armour and Company The mechanized process with its killing wheel and conveyors helped inspire the automobile assembly line. An assembly line is a Manufacturing process in which parts (usually Interchangeable parts) are added to a product in a sequential manner using optimally planned In addition, hedging transactions by the stockyard companies played a key role in the establishment and growth of the Chicago-based commodity exchanges and futures markets. In Finance, a hedge is an investment that is taken out specifically to reduce or cancel out the Risk in another investment A futures exchange is a central financial exchange where people can trade standardized Futures contracts; that is a contract to buy specific quantities of a Commodity

Numerous meatpacking companies were concentrated near the yards, including Armour, Swift, Morris, and Hammond. Armour and Company was an American Slaughterhouse and meatpacking company founded in Chicago Illinois, in 1867 by the Armour brothers led by Swift & Company, the wholly-owned operating subsidiary of privately-held Morris and Company, whose president was Edward Morris, was one of the three main Meatpacking companies in Chicago, Illinois and in South [12] Eventually, meatpacking byproduct manufacturing of leather, soap, fertilizer, glue, imitation ivory, gelatin, shoe polish, buttons, perfume, and violin strings prospered in the neighborhood. [12]

Fire

The Chicago Union Stock Yards Fire started on December 22, 1910, destroying $400,000 of property and killing twenty-one firemen, including the Fire Marshal James J. The Chicago Union Stock Yards Fire occurred from December 22 to December 23, 1910 and resulted in the deaths of twenty-one firemen Events 1790 - The Turkish fortress of Izmail is stormed and captured by Suvorov and his Russian armies Year 1910 ( MCMX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Horan. Fifty engine companies and seven hook and ladder companies fought the fire until it was declared extinguished by Chief Seyferlich on December 23. Events 962 - Byzantine-Arab Wars: Under the future Emperor Nicephorus Phocas, Byzantine troops stormed the city [17] In 2004, a memorial to all Chicago firefighters who have died in the line of duty was erected at the location of the 1910 Stock Yards fire.

Decline and current use

The Union Stock Yards Livestock Pens, 1880
The Union Stock Yards Livestock Pens, 1880

The prosperity of the stockyards was due to both the concentration of railroads and the evolution of refrigerated railroad cars. A refrigerator car (or "reefer") is a refrigerated Boxcar, a piece of Railroad Rolling stock designed to carry perishable [18] Its decline was due to further advances in post-World War II transportation and distribution. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Direct sales of livestock from breeders to packers, facilitated by advancement in interstate trucking, made it cheaper to slaughter animals where they were raised and excluded the intermediary stockyards. The trucking industry (also referred to as the transportation or logistics industry is the Transport and Distribution of commercial and industrial [1][11] At first, the major meatpacking companies resisted change, but Swift and Armour both surrendered and vacated their plants in the Yards in the 1950s. [11]

In 1971, the area bounded by Pershing Road, Ashland, Halsted, and 47th Street became The Stockyards Industrial Park. The neighborhood to the west and south of the industrial park is still known as Back of the Yards, and is still home to a thriving immigrant population. Neighborhoods Back of the Yards Back of the Yards is an industrial and residential neighborhood (located in the New City community area on the Southwest Side

Gate

Main article: Union Stock Yard Gate

A remnant of the Union Stock Yard Gate still arches over Exchange Avenue, next to the firefighters' memorial, and can be seen by those driving along Halsted Street. Located on Exchange Avenue at Peoria Street this entrance to the famous Union Stock Yards was originally designed by John Wellboorn Root of Burnham and Root in around 1875 Located on Exchange Avenue at Peoria Street this entrance to the famous Union Stock Yards was originally designed by John Wellboorn Root of Burnham and Root in around 1875 This limestone gate, marking the entrance to the stockyards, survives as one of the few relics of Chicago's heritage of livestock and meatpacking. Limestone is a Sedimentary rock composed largely of the Mineral Calcite ( Calcium carbonate: CaCO3 Cultural heritage ("national heritage" or just "heritage" is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of a group or Society The steer head over the central arch is thought to represent "Sherman," a prize-winning bull named after John B. Sherman, a founder of the Union Stock Yard and Transit Company. [4]

In popular culture

Bibliography

Notes

  1. ^ a b Pacyga, Dominic (2005). Union Stock Yard. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved on March 7, 2007. Events 161 - Roman Emperor Antoninus Pius dies and is succeeded by co-Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  2. ^ Chicago, by Carl Sandburg, 1916
  3. ^ Grossman, James R. Carl August Sandburg ( January 6, 1878 &ndash July 22, 1967) was an American writer and editor best known for his Poetry , Ann Durkin Keating and Janice L. Ruff (eds. ), Encyclopedia of Chicago, "Meatpacking", pp. 515-7, University of Chicago Press, 2004, ISBN 0-226-31015-9
  4. ^ a b c Chicago Landmarks. Chicago Landmarks. Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
  5. ^ National Historic Landmarks Survey: Listing of National Historic Landmarks by State: Illinois. Retrieved on March 7, 2007.
  6. ^ Old Stone Gate, Chicago Union Stockyards. National Park Service. Retrieved on March 30, 2007.
  7. ^ 1865 Chicago Union Stock Yard Completed. Chicago Public Library (1997). Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
  8. ^ a b The Birth of the Chicago Union Stock Yards. Chicago Historical Society (2001). Retrieved on March 9, 2007.
  9. ^ a b c d The Birth of the Chicago Union Stock Yards. Chicago Historical Society (2001). Retrieved on March 9, 2007.
  10. ^ Union Stock Yards. University of Chicago. Retrieved on March 7, 2007.
  11. ^ a b c d Grossman, James R. , Ann Durkin Keating and Janice L. Ruff (eds. ), Encyclopedia of Chicago, "Union Stock Yard & Transit Co. ", p. 947, University of Chicago Press, 2004, ISBN 0-226-31015-9.
  12. ^ a b c Meatpacking Technology. Chicago Historical Society (2001). Retrieved on March 9, 2007.
  13. ^ a b 1865 Chicago Stories. Chicago Public Library. Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
  14. ^ 1865 Chicago Union Stock Yard Completed. Chicago Public Library (1997). Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
  15. ^ Solzman, David M. (1998). The Chicago River: An Illustrated History and Guide to the River and its Waterways. Chicago: Loyola Press, 226–227. ISBN 0-8294-1023-6.  
  16. ^ Stock Yards branch. Chicago "L". org. Retrieved on 2007-03-22. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 238 - Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman emperor.
  17. ^ 1910, December 22-23: Chicago Union Stock Yards Fire. Chicago Public Library (1996). Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
  18. ^ Barrett, James R. (2005). Back of the Yards. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved on March 9, 2007.
  19. ^ My Kind Of Town. lyricsfreak. com. Retrieved on March 31, 2007.
  20. ^ Romo, Rafael, John Cody and the STNG Wire (2007-01-09). Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 475 - Byzantine Emperor Zeno is forced to flee his capital at Constantinople. Firefighters Battle South Side Warehouse Blaze. CBS Broadcasting Inc. Retrieved on March 31, 2007.
  21. ^ Bibliography. Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved on March 6, 2007.

See also

External links

The Chicago Board of Trade ( CBOT) established in 1848 is the world's oldest futures and options exchange. A geographic coordinate system enables every location on the Earth to be specified in three coordinates using mainly a spherical coordinate system.
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