The area has long been a hub for architecture . The vast majority of the area was destroyed by the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 but rebuilt quickly . In 1885 the Home Insurance Building , generally considered the world 's first skyscraper , was constructed , followed by the development of the Chicago school best exemplified by such buildings as the Rookery Building in 1888 , the Monadnock Building in 1891 , and the Sullivan Center in 1899 . From the 1890s to the 1940s , local aldermen " Bathhouse John " Coughlin and Michael " Hinky Dink " Kenna led the so-called " Gray Wolves " of Chicago , a notoriously corrupt group of aldermen . They hosted the First Ward Ball in the area at the Chicago Coliseum , an event that brought together various people of ill repute and by the time of its forced closure in 1909 raised over $ 50,000 a year ( $ 1,000,000 in 2018 ) for the aldermen . Coughlin served from 1892 until his death in 1938 ; having served for 46 years , he was the longest-serving alderman in Chicago history until his record was broken in November 2014 by Ed Burke of the 14th ward . He was from the area and owned several bathhouses in it , although in his later years he lived in the nearby Near South Side . Kenna served as alderman from 1897 to 1923 , when he stepped down in favor of Coughlin when the number of aldermen per ward decreased from two to one , and again from 1939 to 1943 upon Coughlin 's death
Great Chicago Fire
Great Chicago Fire
Chicago Loop