Posted on August 28, 2009 by Shawn in Chicago

Why is Chicago called the Windy City?

How many times have you heard about the infamous ‘Windy City’ and thought, “if I ever go there I must bring my sweater because it’s awful windy?” After hanging out with some locals I quickly learned the wind is not necessarily referred to as the westerly winds, rather hot wind coming from the politicians. Although, there are two other possibilities.

One of the few survivors of the Great Chicago Fire

History tells us about Chicago’s great fire of 1871 that destroyed over four miles of the center city and leveled the business district. The fire that lasted over two days has been blamed on the O’Leary cow who knocked over a lantern in the barn, but who can really prove it? As early as the mid 1880′s, politicians raced for the World’s Fair bid against other major cities like NY, D.C. and St. Louis to celebrate the 400th anniversary to Columbus’ arrival in North America. It’s said that Chicago’s top leaders blew so much hot wind about it being the best city, that it was dubbed as the windy city.

Another popular opinion is the historic rivalry with the nearby town of Cincinnati. Where Cincinnati had the Red Stockings in baseball, Chicago started the White Stockings to defeat them. The first three citings of “The Windy City” are referred to sporting news in the Chicago Tribune and The Cincinnati Enquirer from 1876. The Enquirer referred to Chicago as the city “full of bluster.”

FYI, there is some wind due to the cool breezes off Lake Michigan, but technically, Chicago is not even in the top ten of windy cities of America. After the Great Chicago Fire, the city was rebuilt in a grid system that created man-made wind tunnels through the high-reaching towers. However, it is not really until one sits by the Lake that the cool breezes cuts to the bone.

All of the above explanations sound reasonable to me, so you be the judge!