![\"Canal](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/canalboat_ad_ChiDirectory1852_sp.jpg?resize=350%2C294\")
By 1852, Chicago had been officially incorporated as a city for a mere 15 years, but its population had risen to 38,733 persons from a mere 4,853 persons in 1840. Udall & Hopkins’ Directory<\/em> notes that just over half of Chicago’s inhabitants at that time were foreign born. R. K. Swift’s Foreign and Domestic Exchange Office dealt with currency agents from England, Ireland, France, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and especially Germany where they had five office affiliations.<\/p>\n Browsing the resident names reveals a number of occupations (ship carpenter, bridge tender, engineer, blacksmith, wagon maker, carriage painter) that illuminate how one may have arrived in the city or navigated the only partially paved streets. By 1859, about 20 passengers could sit comfortably on the newly implemented horsecar line (Chicago’s first streetcar) that ran up and down State Street from Randolph to Roosevelt.<\/p>\n What visitor now goes somewhere without a taking a picture? By 1852 the exposure time was reduced to just a minute or two which made posing for a daguerreotype print (the first commercially successful photographic process) a much more attractive option. In 1859, Chicago boasted 24 daguerreotype parlors to choose from, an increase of 20 shops in only seven years.<\/p>\n The bustling markets of Lake Street were a great place to outfit oneself with the latest “hats, caps, and fancy furs,” while just around the corner at the docks on South Water Street (now the double-level Wacker Drive) one could purchase whiskey at “buffalo prices,” or prices as low as buffalo on the Great Plains were common.<\/p>\n By 1859, the population had mushroomed to 109,260 persons and the entertainment options were clearly expanding. Smith and DuMoulin’s Directory<\/em> lists three theaters. If the day was particularly hot and stifling, one might have opted for a show at McVicker’s Theatre which advertised itself as the “Best Ventilated Theatre in the World.” In the days before electricity and air conditioning, this “elegant temple of drama” on Madison Avenue between State and Dearborn could boast that besides being commodious, it stood “entirely free from other buildings.”<\/p>\n Smith & Du Moulin’s Chicago City Directory: For the Year Ending May 1, 1860<\/em>. Chicago : Smith & Du Moulin, 1859. Call Number: SpC. 977.31 S642s1859<\/a><\/p>\n Udall & Hopkins Chicago City Directory, for …<\/em> Chicago : Udall & Hopkins, 1852. Call Number:SpC. 977.31 U18u1852<\/a><\/p>\n For more information about these texts or other historic Chicago<\/a> resources, please contact Special Colle<\/span>ctions<\/a> at: archives@depaul.edu<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" New Leaves is a series highlighting acquisitions in Special Collections and Archives. How interesting can a directory filled with names, addresses, streets, and advertisements possibly be? When it provides a glimpse into the urban experience in Chicago 150 years ago, it can be absolutely fascinating. Following are some of the possibilities that might be gleaned <\/p>\n![\"McVicker's](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/news.library.depaul.press\/full-text\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2015\/10\/McVickers_ChiDirectory1859_sp-570x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C628\")