Chicago,the third largest city in the United States, is strategically located at the south end of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Chicago River. Its central location in North America has made it an air and rail transportation center for the continent. A place of portage in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a trading post during the nineteenth century, Chicago was plotted as a city in 1830. Its location has made it one of the largest farm markets in the United States. It not only has been the center for corn and wheat trade but for meat and food packing as well. Its industry and manufacturing consists of primary metals, and machinery. It has also been a center for the manufacture of agricultural implements and farm equipment. The framework for Chicago's current government was adopted in 1875. Chicago is known as an ethnic and working class community, politically dominated by ward and district leaders. The Democratic political organization has controlled Chicago politics and has had powerful influence both on Illinois and national politics.

This report is part of the collection of scanned historical documents available to the public.