1865: Opening of the Peoria and Chicago Stock Yards (continued)

  Chicago

In 1848, Chicago serves as a connection to transport livestock from the West to the rest of the country. Tavern owners provide pastures and care for herds of cattle waiting to be sold in Chicago (Chicago Public Library). As the railroad expands, small stockyards, such as the Lake Shore and Cottage Grove Yards, spring up along these lines. Three factors lead to the centralization of livestock into the Chicago Union Stock Yards: the expansion of railroads west, the blockade of the Mississippi River during the Civil War, and influx of meatpackers and livestock into Chicago. These lead to dramatic changes in stockyards.

The proliferation of meatpackers and livestock make the situation difficult for the railroads and livestock dealers; shipping livestock and meat products is unorganized, inefficient, and costly. The belief is that a centralized stockyard would be more efficient, so construction of the Chicago Union Stockyards begins in June 1865; it opens on Christmas Day 1866 with 500 pens on 60 acres; by 1868, there are 2,300 pens on 100 acres (Peer) (Figure 7).

The meatpacking industry in Chicago grows to employ 40,000 people by 1921 and to produce 82% of the meat consumed in the United States. By 1870, the stockyards process 2,000,000 animals annually; by 1890 the number rises to 9,000,000. It occupies more than a square mile of Chicago’s South Side, from 39th to 47th streets and from Halsted to Ashland. Chicago becomes the meat-processing center of the world (WTTW11) - “hog butcher to the world” as Carl Sandburg wrote. In addition, the meatpackers utilize by-products of the slaughterhouses; they expand the business sector to include manufacturing of leather, soap, fertilizer, glue, gelatin, shoe polish, buttons, and violin strings (Chicago Historical Society 1999).

Figure 7: Chicago Stockyards (Chicago Historical Society 1999)

What are the impacts to the environment? There is no quantification of the impacts of the Union Stock Yards. The resulting air and water pollution are seen as signs of progress rather than as problems. For example, “Bubbling Creek” is a highly contaminated tributary of the South Branch of the Chicago River. It once served as the main drainage course for the run-off and wastes of the Union Stockyards, prompting Upton Sinclair, in The Jungle, to refer to it as “a dark cauldron bubbling with evil monsters.” The bubbles on the creek are from decaying carcasses discarded directly into the stream, and Bubbling Creek crusts over from the debris and pollution to such an extent that humans and chickens walk across the top of it (Figures 8 and 9, Chicago Daily News). As time passes, impacts from this monstrous livestock facility become more evident. Moreover, in that the debris and pollution in Bubbling Creek and other Chicago rivers eventually find their way into the Illinois, they are significant contributors to non-point source pollution in the river.

Figure 8: Man Walking on Debris In Bubbling Creek (Chicago Daily News)

Figure 9: Pollution in Bubbling Creek - Chicken Walking on the Surface (Chicago Daily News)