Crime

Most Corrupt City




U of I Professor Dick Simpson

Corruption cost the city $500 million


Police brutality, bogus contracts, bribes, theft and ghost payrolling 

Between 1976 and 2010, there were 1,531 convictions for public corruption 

Since the 1970s, four of seven Illinois convicted 

31 members of Chicago's city council.


"The two worst crime zones in Illinois are the governor's mansion ... and the city council chambers in Chicago.

"No other state can match us."




Illinois - Where Our Governors Make Our License Plates




Four of our past seven Governors of Illinois in jail

Governors:

Rod Blagovitch

George Ryan

Dan Walker

Otto Kerner 




Dr. Henry Howard Holmes - World's Fair Murderer 1893 


Number of victims 4–200 (4 confirmed; 27 confessed)


I 2003 by Erik Larson's The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America








Alphonse Gabriel "Al" Capone (January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947) 

smuggled liquor and prostitution

Capone became a highly visible public figure. 

He donated to various charities

 "modern-day Robin Hood". 

1929 Saint Valentine's Day Massacre, when seven rival gang members were executed.

Capone was convicted on federal charges of tax evasion in 1931 and sentenced to federal prison; he was released on parole in 1939

Died in 1947 in Florida



Murders and Gang Turf in Chicago

































Transportation

The Grid Plan

Chicago follows the great American grid plan, with major streets following section lines every one mile. This plan was developed by the Federal Government in 1786.




Abraham Lincoln was a surveyor in Illinois. His equipment.





Plank Roads






toll roads

heavy stringers 

on each side  

16-foot roadway 

across them were laid (but not spiked) heavy planks of pine and hemlock, oak or walnut. 

$2000 per mile

Very profitable at first.  

Toll gates at intervals of 5 or 6 miles






RAILROADS


Chicago handles 1/2 the nations rail freight.

First railroad in 1848










Horse Drawn Street Cars




The first streetcars 1859

The original streetcars were 12 feet long


held 18 passengers, and operated at 3 mph. 


Chicago Cable Cars


 The system was in operation from 1882 until 1906



Chicago " L" Elevated Rapid Transit


The 'L' (sometimes written as "L"ElEL,

or L), short for "elevated started in 1892  









Interstate Highways














Airports

Midway Airport








retained the title until O'Hare claimed it in 1961.




Meigs Field






Opened 1946  Closed 2003






South Suburban Airport - Third Airport For Chicago