Debris dug up on the east side of Lake Shore Drive during the ongoing I-55/Lake Shore Drive ramp reconstruction project is from the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, according to Illinois Department of Transportation officials.
Workers on the Lake Shore Drive ramp project in Chicago have uncovered what officials say is charred debris from the Great Chicago Fire. Workers turned up bricks, wooden timbers and ash from the 1871 fire that destroyed most of the city. No historical preservationists were called in because fire debris was commonly used as landfill along the lake, according to Illinois Department of Transportation spokeswoman Gianna Urgo.
Workers also uncovered a concrete stairway of unknown age and origin.
(more on the Chicago Fire debris found at the Lake Shore Drive construction site...)
