highly unusual and all original industrial artifact from the chicago fire of 1871 consisting of a burnt safe caster or perforated wheel affixed to a cluster of melted industrial by-product. the rusted and mottled piece is clearly deformed from the intense heat produced by the massive fire. dug from a lakeshore site in chicago, but resembling the "souvenirs" salvaged from the burnt district and sold after the tragedy. the great chicago fire burned from sunday, october 8, to early tuesday, october 10, 1871. the disaster killed up to 300 people, destroyed roughly 3.3 square miles of chicago and left more than 100,000 residents homeless. once the fire had ended, the smoldering remains were still too hot for a survey of the damage to be completed for many days. eventually it was determined that the fire had destroyed more than 73 miles of roads, 120 miles of sidewalk, 2000 lamposts, 17,500 buildings, and $222 million in property--about a third of the city's valuation. of the 300,000 inhabitants, 100,000 were left homeless. though the fire was one of the largest u.s. disasters of the 19th century, and destroyed much of the city's central business district, chicago was rebuilt and continued to grow as one of the most populous and economically important american cities.