After Chicago became a city in 1837, it grew rapidly around the edges of the second Fort Dearborn, built in 1816. The fort persisted until 1857, when Chicago had a population of more than 80,000. It was thus still a feature of the landscape when Juliette Kinzie's Wau-Bun (1856) was published, and people with direct memory of the fort lived into the 20th century.

Photographer: Unknown
Source: Chicago Historical Society (ICHi-03054)