The Chicago Stockyards officially opened in 1865 and closed in 1971, ending a period of industrial development that influenced local, national and world history. American poet Carl Sandburg called Chicago the "butcher for the world" and author Upton Sinclair described the unsafe production methods in his expose "The Jungle" based on his investigations in the Chicago stockyards and packing houses.
Origins
The vast American plains offered free grazing for cattle, but logistically, it was difficult to bring the cattle to a market that was centered in the eastern U.S. The railroad and stockyards provided a quick remedy to this situation. Chicago was the railhead for the great western cattle roundups in the 1840s. Cattle wranglers moved the animals to key locations, such as Kansas City, where the railroad transported the cargo to larger rail hubs. Chicago provided the logistical center for the U.S. during that time. Soon stockyards, including the Lake Shore and Cottage Grove Yards, were established in Chicago.
Chicago Union Stockyards & Transit Company
The ease of transporting cattle to Chicago by rail was quickly identified and additional stockyards were created to hold the animals. A consortium of nine railroad companies founded the Chicago Union Stockyards and Transit Company as the largest centralized cattle yard in the US. Octave Chanute was the engineer in charge of creating a plan for the expansive area in 1864 and the yards opened on Christmas Day 1865 on the 320-acres between Pershing Avenue, Halsted Street, 147th Street and Ashland Avenue. By 1900, the CUSY had expanded to over 475 acres with 50 miles of road and 130 miles of track running throughout the complex.
Meatpacking
Meat packing plants soon opened around the stockyards. Armour was the first to build a large operation in 1867, followed by Swift, Morris and Hammond. Soon these meat packing plants slaughtered the cattle and prepared the meat for nearly 82 percent of the meat eaten in the U.S., according to the Chicago Historical Society. In addition to the food, factories were built to utilize the by-products of the meat packing industry including bones for button-making, hides for leather shoes, and soap, glue and shoe polish from the meat renderings (remains left after processing).
Expansion
The stockyards expanded further after the invention of ice-cooled railroad cars in 1872 and Gustavus Swift's invention of the refrigerated railroad car in 1882. The two inventions supplied fresh meat for market, even to remote markets. The stockyards fed cattle into the meat packing houses that worked round the clock using assembly lines to butcher and pack the meat products.
Decline and Closure
The Chicago Stockyards closed as a direct result of the federal highway system and the invention of refrigerated semi-trucks. However, it was a slow death. The stockyards were no longer necessary to bring cattle to the meat packing houses as a result of these inventions and the production facilities moved to rural areas where the land was inexpensive. Meat packing plants in the Chicago stockyard area closed post-World War II, including Wilson & Company which locked the doors in 1955, as new mechanized plants were constructed far from Chicago. The Union Stock Yards, once the country's largest, officially closed July 31, 1971. The location is now home to smaller industrial plants. A large limestone arch, built in 1879, is still in place at the former entry to the stockyards at Exchange Avenue at Peoria Street.
