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78-518: The Union Stock Yard & Transit Co. , or The Yards , was the meatpacking district in Chicago for more than a century, starting in 1865. The district was operated by a group of railroad companies that acquired marshland and turned it into a centralized processing area. By the 1890s, the railroad capital behind the Union Stockyards was Vanderbilt money. The Union Stockyards operated in

156-651: A butcher in a log slaughter house on the north branch of the Chicago River and supplied most to the garrison of Fort Dearborn. Other small butchers came later. In 1848, the Bull's Head Stockyard began operations at Madison Street and Ogden Avenue on the West Side of Chicago. Operations for this early stockyard, however, still meant holding and feeding cattle and hogs in transit to meat packing plants further east—Indianapolis and, of course, Cincinnati. The prosperity of

234-568: A day of Chicago River water were pumped into the stockyards. So much stockyard waste drained into the South Fork of the river that it was called Bubbly Creek due to the gaseous products of decomposition. The creek bubbles to this day. When the city permanently reversed the flow of the Chicago River in 1900, the intent was to prevent the Stock Yards' waste products, along with other sewage, from flowing into Lake Michigan and contaminating

312-647: A few decades workers achieved blue-collar , middle-class lives from it. Though the meat-packing industry has made many improvements since the early 1900s, extensive changes in the industry since the late 20th century have caused new labor issues to arise. Today, the rate of injury in the meat-packing industry is three times that of the private industry overall, and meat-packing was noted by Human Rights Watch as being "the most dangerous factory job in America". The meatpacking industry continues to employ many immigrant laborers, including some who are undocumented workers . In

390-559: A film in 1934 traveling from the south end of Halsted Street to the North, across Chicago. The street derives its name from William H. and Caleb O. Halsted, Philadelphia bankers who made large investments in Chicago real estate through William B. Ogden , Chicago's first Mayor. The street ran through their property, and they ceded valuable rights to the city. Halsted has had several names, originally known as "Egyptian Road" because it led to

468-559: A finger or limb per month. The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reported that over a period of six years in the UK , 78 slaughter workers lost fingers, parts of fingers or limbs, more than 800 workers had serious injuries, and at least 4,500 had to take more than three days off after accidents. In a 2018 study in the Italian Journal of Food Safety, slaughterhouse workers are instructed to wear ear protectors to protect their hearing from

546-502: A founder of the Union Stock Yard and Transit Company. The gate is a designated U.S. National Historic Landmark . The stockyards are considered one of the chief forces that molded the animal–industrial complex into its present form under contemporary capitalism . According to Kim Stallwood , Chicago and its stockyards from 1865 are one of the two milestones that mark the shift in human attitudes toward animals that empowered

624-487: A guaranteed price at a set time in the future. This was extremely helpful to those sellers who expected their cattle or hogs to come to market with a glut of other cattle or hogs when prices might necessarily be substantially lower than the guaranteed futures price. Following the arrival of Armour in 1867, Gustav Swift's company arrived in Chicago in 1875 and built another modern large-scale meatpacking plant at 42nd Street and South Justine Street. The Morris Company built

702-429: A hog in the eye that's walking around in the blood pit with you and think, 'God, that really isn't a bad-looking animal.' You may want to pet it. Pigs down on the kill floor have come up to nuzzle me like a puppy. Two minutes later I had to kill them—beat them to death with a pipe. I can't care. The act of slaughtering animals or of raising or transporting animals for slaughter may engender psychological stress or trauma in

780-504: A meatpacking plant at 42nd Street and Elizabeth Street. The Hammond Company and the Wilson Company also built meatpacking plants in the area west of the Chicago stockyards. Eventually, meatpacking byproduct manufacturing of leather, soap, fertilizer, glue (such as the large glue factory located at 44th Street and Loomis Street), pharmaceuticals, imitation ivory, gelatin, shoe polish, buttons, perfume, and violin strings prospered in

858-714: A memorial to all Chicago firefighters who have died in the line of duty was erected just behind the Union Stock Yards Gate at the intersection of Exchange Avenue and Peoria Street. A larger fire occurred on Saturday, May 19, 1934, which burned almost 90 percent of the stockyards, including the Exchange Building, the Stock Yard Inn, and the International Livestock Exposition building. The 1934 Stock Yards fire

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936-643: A scarce commodity. Medical historian Benjamin Prinz has therefore pointed to the fragility of today's healthcare systems, which themselves participate in environmentally destructive and disease-causing production chains. Contemporary concerns about the meat industry within the American context have often been colored by the COVID-19 Pandemic and the resulting supply chain issues. Beyond the consumer perspective, workers were expected to drastically increase

1014-500: A small ration of meat for urban citizens only to the world's largest meat producer; it was a movement from a handful of processing facilities in major cities to thousands of modern meat-packing and processing plants throughout the country, alongside the rapid growth of a middle-class with spending money. In the early 20th century, meatpacking companies employed new immigrants as strikebreakers during labor actions initiated by existing workers, who were often earlier immigrants themselves or

1092-778: A variety of negative health outcomes. By 1900, the dominant meat-packers were: In the 1990s, the dominant meat-packers were: Current significant meat-packers in the United States include: Beef Packers: Pork Packers: Broiler Chickens: Outside the United States: Halsted Street Halsted Street is a major north-south street in the U.S. city of Chicago , Illinois . In Chicago's grid system , Halsted Street marks 800 West, 1 mile (1.6 km) west of State Street , from Grace Street (3800 N) in Lakeview south to

1170-484: A venue for many national conventions. Historian William Cronon concludes: The first Chicago Union Stock Yards fire started on December 22, 1910, destroying $ 400,000 of property and killing twenty-one firemen, including the Fire Marshal James J. Horan. Fifty engine companies and seven hook and ladder companies fought the fire until it was declared extinguished by Chief Seyferlich on December 23. In 2004,

1248-606: A victim of the violence of white supremacy in the United States. Just south of 95th Street is the Carter G. Woodson regional branch of the Chicago Public Library . Illinois Route 1 begins at Halsted Street's interchange with Interstate 57 (at 99th Street) on the far south side, and follows Halsted through much of its length through the suburbs. Leaving Chicago and entering the village of Riverdale at

1326-590: Is one of only two streets to completely traverse this, the Chicago River 's only island. Continuing south, Halsted soars high above feeder ramps to the Kennedy Expressway , Union Pacific Railroad and Canadian National Railway and finally the Kennedy Expressway itself to enter the West Loop . One then passes through Chicago's Greektown at Jackson Blvd (300 S). South of a high bridge over

1404-746: Is served by major transportation lines. On the Chicago "L" , the Red , Brown , and Purple Lines run nearby on the North Side. Stations along Halsted Street appear on the Red Line ( North/Clybourn ), the Blue Line ( Grand and UIC–Halsted ), the Green Line ( Halsted at 63rd Street), and the Orange Line ( Halsted at Archer Avenue). Three Metra commuter lines directly serve Halsted Street:

1482-476: Is that the pharmaceutical industry obtains basic materials for its products from the meat-packing industry; for example, tissue extracts from slaughterhouse waste. In the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, this led to the paradoxical situation that mass slaughterhouses were infection drivers due to the bad labor conditions and at the same time suppliers of important therapeutics such as heparin , which subsequently became

1560-485: Is the only remnant of the old stockyards, which largely became business and industrial parks after the closure. Before construction of the various private stockyards, tavern owners provided pastures and care for cattle herds waiting to be sold. With the spreading service of railroads , several small stockyards were created in and around the city of Chicago. In 1848, a stockyard called the Bulls Head Market

1638-907: The 108 Halsted/95th between the 95th/Dan Ryan Red Line terminal and 127th/Lowe. Pace provides suburban bus service along Halsted Street south of 95th Street. The 352 Halsted route operates 24/7 between 95th/Dan Ryan station and the Chicago Heights Bus Terminal in Chicago Heights, Illinois . The bus route serves a major transfer hub at Harvey Transportation Center in Harvey, Illinois . The 359 Robbins/South Kedzie Avenue also runs along Halsted between 95th/Dan Ryan station and 124th Street before turning west. Professional wrestlers One Man Gang , Colt Cabana , Ace Steel , CM Punk , and Gary Hart have been billed from Halsted Street. Conrad Friberg, aka C.O. Nelson produced

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1716-718: The BNSF Line ( Halsted Street station at 16th Street), the Rock Island Line ( Gresham station at 87th Street), and the Blue Island branch of the Metra Electric District ( West Pullman station at 121st Street). Three CTA bus routes provide service along Halsted Street: 8 Halsted between Broadway/Waveland and 79th Street, 8A South Halsted between the 79th Red Line station and Halsted/119th (with select trips continuing to 127th/Lowe), and

1794-516: The Chicago River 's south branch. Here Halsted Street enters Bridgeport , traditionally a working-class Irish , Lithuanian and Italian community, it has been home to five of the city's mayors. Continuing south, Halsted passes between the borders of Back of the Yards , which lies to the west side of Halsted from 40th to 55th Streets, and Canaryville , which lies on the east side of Halsted between 40th and 49th Streets. Both Canaryville and Back of

1872-551: The Eisenhower Expressway , Halsted forms the eastern border of the University of Illinois at Chicago . North of Greektown is the headquarters for Weigel Broadcasting (owner of MeTV ) and its local television stations ( WCIU-TV , WWME-CD , and WMEU-CD ), which are appropriately addressed at 26 N. Halsted Street, to honor WCIU-TV's channel number. The Jane Addams Hull House , America's first settlement house,

1950-1014: The Federal Trade Commission investigated the country's meatpackers for anti-competitive practices in the first decade of the 1900s. The Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 was the first of a series of legislation that led to the establishment of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Another such act passed the same year was the Federal Meat Inspection Act . The new laws helped the large packers, and hurt small operations that lacked economy of scale or quality controls. Historian William Cronon concludes: The industry after 1945 closed its stockyards in big cities like Chicago and moved operations to small towns close to cattle ranches, especially in Iowa, Nebraska and Colorado. Historically, besides Cincinnati, Chicago and Omaha,

2028-758: The Lincoln Park area, as a primary thoroughfare through the community area. South of Armitage Avenue , it passes two notable theaters: Steppenwolf and the Royal George. At North Avenue , Halsted passes Clybourn Avenue, through the Old Town area . The former site of the Cabrini–Green housing project is at Halsted and Division (1200 N) in the Near North Side neighborhood. Halsted Street has two bridges to mark its passage over Goose Island ; it

2106-748: The Michigan Central railroads combined to build the largest set of pens on the lake shore east of Cottage Grove Avenue from 29th Street to 35th Street. In 1878, the New York Central Railroad managed to buy a controlling interest in the Michigan Central Railroad. In this way, Cornelius Vanderbilt , owner of the New York Central Railroad, got his start in the stockyard business in Chicago. Several factors contributed to consolidation of

2184-472: The New City community area for 106 years, helping Chicago become known as the " hog butcher for the world ", the center of the American meatpacking industry for decades. The yards became inspiration for literature and social reform. The stockyards became the focal point of the rise of some of the earliest international companies. These refined industrial innovations and influenced financial markets. Both

2262-532: The U.S. Congress led to the passage of the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act (both passed in 1906 on the same day) to ensure better regulations of the meat-packing industry. In the 1920s and early 1930s, workers achieved unionization under the CIO 's United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA). An interracial committee led the organizing in Chicago , where the majority of workers in

2340-510: The Union Stock Yard Gate still arches over Exchange Avenue, next to the firefighters' memorial, and can be seen by those driving along Halsted Street. This limestone gate, marking the entrance to the stockyards, survives as one of the few relics of Chicago's heritage of livestock and meatpacking. The bovine head decoration over the central arch is thought to represent "Sherman", a prize-winning bull named after John B. Sherman,

2418-573: The "Back of the Yards". It was a name that the residents proudly claimed as their own. In 1939, the Town of Lake Journal officially changed its name to Back of the Yards Journal . Pioneers to the area first called "Town of Lake" were S. S. Crocker and John Caffrey. Indeed, Crocker earned the nickname "Father of the Town of Lake". By February 1865 the area was incorporated officially as "Town of Lake"

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2496-629: The Argentine industry finally secured a large slice of the British market, Pateros and trade restrictions limited its penetration of the Continent. Meat in China moved from a minor specialty commodity to a major factor in the food supply in the late 20th century thanks to the rapid emergence of a middle class with upscale tastes and plenty of money. It was a transition from a country able to provide

2574-425: The Chicago stockyards rose from 392,000 hogs in 1860 to 1,410,000 hogs over the winter butchering season of 1864–1865; over the same time period, beef receipts in Chicago rose from 117,000 head to 338,000 head. With an influx of butchers and small meat packing concerns, the number of businesses greatly increased to process the flood of livestock being shipped to the Chicago stockyards. The goal was to butcher and process

2652-580: The Chicago stockyards: westward expansion of railroads between 1850 and 1870, which drove great commercial growth in Chicago as a major railroad center, and the Mississippi River blockade during the Civil War that closed all north–south river trade. The United States government purchased a great deal of beef and pork to feed the Union troops fighting the Civil War. As a consequence, hog receipts at

2730-660: The Great Depression of the 1930s. Greektown and Maxwell Street business establishments continue to exist as remnants of the mass emigration of Southern Europeans, terminated by an act of Congress in 1924. South of an underpass allowing Halsted to cross the BNSF Railway tracks at 16th street, parallel to the Dan Ryan Expressway , Halsted grazes the eastern edge of the Pilsen neighborhood, then crosses

2808-833: The Little Calumet River near 129th St, Route 1 breaks off and is called Chicago Road, then Dixie Highway, ending at the Ohio River , at the border with the state of Kentucky . Halsted Street continues through downtown Chicago Heights and crosses the Lincoln Highway . The road ends at 26th Street at the Chicago Heights– Steger line. However, Halsted Street returns at 30th Street and continues south (marked as Halsted Boulevard south of 34th Street) before ending at 37th Street in Steger. Halsted Street

2886-475: The PTSD Journal explain, "These employees are hired to kill animals, such as pigs and cows that are largely gentle creatures. Carrying out this action requires workers to disconnect from what they are doing and from the creature standing before them. This emotional dissonance can lead to consequences such as domestic violence, social withdrawal, anxiety, drug and alcohol abuse, and PTSD". Slaughterhouses in

2964-526: The United States and some other countries, the facility where the meat packing is done is called a slaughterhouse , packinghouse or a meat-packing plant ; in New Zealand , where most of the products are exported, it is called a freezing works . An abattoir is a place where animals are slaughtered for food. The meat-packing industry grew with the construction of railroads and methods of refrigeration for meat preservation . Railroads made possible

3042-411: The United States commonly illegally employ and exploit underage workers and illegal immigrants. In 2010, Human Rights Watch described slaughterhouse line work in the United States as a human rights crime. In a report by Oxfam America , slaughterhouse workers were observed not being allowed breaks, were often required to wear diapers, and were paid below minimum wage. Another problem in this context

3120-411: The Yards historically housed many Union Stock Yards workers. The Stockyards themselves were located to the west of Halsted between Pershing (39th) and 47th. Further south, Halsted Street passes into Englewood . Kennedy-King College has its campus in the heart of Englewood at 63rd Street and Halsted Street. Further south, Halsted intersects with 71st Street, which was honorarily named for Emmett Till ,

3198-400: The amount of contaminated droplets in the air. More than 50,000 meat packing workers contracted the disease and over 200 died. Disease is not evenly distributed throughout factories and all workers in a given factory are not at equal risk for exposure and negative health outcomes despite working the same job. In particular, the overlap of immigration status and workplace exposures can result in

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3276-533: The animal–industrial complex, the other being the post– World War II developments such as intensive factory farms , industrial fishing , and xenotransplantation . According to sociologist David Nibert , the Chicago slaughterhouses were significant economic powers of the early 20th century and were "famous for the cruel, rapid-paced killing and disassembly of enormous numbers of animals." 41°48′58″N 87°39′25″W  /  41.816°N 87.657°W  / 41.816; -87.657 Meatpacking In

3354-646: The area still consisted of fewer than 700 persons. In the early 1860s the meat packing industry of the United States was still located in Cincinnati, Ohio, the original "Porkopolis" of the pre-Civil War era. However, with the end of the American Civil War, the meat packing industry had started to move westward along with the westward migration of the population of the United States. For the meat packing industry moving west meant coming to Chicago. As early as 1827, Archibauld Clybourn had established himself as

3432-486: The area. At this time the area was known as the "Town of Lake". Indeed, the area would continue to be called Town of Lake until 1939. Witness that the newspaper of the area was called the Town of Lake Journal . Only with the founding of the community organization called the "Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council" in 1939 did the neighborhood west and south of the meat packinghouses start being called

3510-524: The automobile assembly line that Henry Ford popularized in 1913. For a time the Armour plant, located on a 12-acre site, was renowned as the largest factory in the world. In addition, hedging transactions by the stockyard companies were pivotal in the establishment and growth of the Chicago-based commodity exchanges and futures markets . Selling on the futures market allowed the seller to have

3588-409: The average American worker. NPR reports that pig and cattle slaughterhouse workers are nearly seven times more likely to suffer repetitive strain injuries than average. The Guardian reports that on average there are two amputations a week involving slaughterhouse workers in the United States . On average, one employee of Tyson Foods , the largest meat producer in America, is injured and amputates

3666-959: The city limits at the Little Calumet River (13000 S) in West Pullman , a length of 168 north-south Chicago blocks. (From Grace north to Lawrence Avenue (4800 N) in Uptown , 800 W is marked by Clarendon Avenue.) In Lakeview Halsted passes through Wrigleyville, as intersecting with Addison Street , it is only two blocks east of Wrigley Field home of the Chicago Cubs . Halsted is then lined with restaurants, bars and gay bars and clubs as one enters Boystown , Chicago's main gay and lesbian community , running as far as Belmont Avenue . This area also contains numerous theaters and comedy clubs. As it continues south past Diversey (2800 N), it goes past DePaul University and through

3744-421: The city's drinking water. The meatpacking district was served between 1908 and 1957 by a short Chicago 'L' line with several stops, devoted primarily to the daily transport of thousands of workers and even tourists to the site. The line was constructed when the city of Chicago forced the removal of surface trackage on 40th Street. Evolving methods of transportation and distribution led to declining business and

3822-551: The city's main rail lines by 15 miles (24 km) of track. In 1864, the Union Stock Yards were located just outside the southern boundary of the city of Chicago. Within five years, the area was incorporated into the city. Eventually, the 375-acre (1.52 km) site had 2300 separate livestock pens, room to accommodate 75,000 hogs, 21,000 cattle and 22,000 sheep at any one time. Additionally, hotels, saloons, restaurants, and offices for merchants and brokers sprang up in

3900-489: The closing of the Union Stock Yards in 1971. National Wrecking Company negotiated a contract whereby National Wrecking cleared a 102-acre site and removed some 50 acres of animal pens, auxiliary buildings and the eight-story Exchange Building. It took approximately eight months to complete the job and ready the site for the building of an industrial park. The area and scale of the stockyards, along with technological advancements in rail transport and refrigeration , allowed for

3978-620: The constant screams of animals being killed. A 2004 study in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that "excess risks were observed for mortality from all causes, all cancers, and lung cancer" in workers employed in the New Zealand meat processing industry. The worst thing, worse than the physical danger, is the emotional toll. If you work in the stick pit [where hogs are killed] for any period of time—that lets [sic] you kill things but doesn't let you care. You may look

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4056-590: The creation of some of America's first truly global companies led by entrepreneurs such as Gustavus Franklin Swift and Philip Danforth Armour . Philip Armour was the first person to build a modern large-scale meatpacking plant in Chicago in 1867. The Armour plant was built at 45th Street and Elizabeth Avenue immediately to the west of the Union Stockyards. This new plant employed the modern "assembly line" (or rather dis-assembly line) method of work. The mechanized process with its killing wheel and conveyors helped inspire

4134-593: The early 20th century the workers were immigrants from eastern and southern Europe and black migrants from the South. Today, many meatpacking workers are Hispanics hailing from Mexico, Central and South America. A notable amount of workers are from Peru, leading to the formation of a large Peruvian community in the industry. The isolated areas in which many plants are located put these workers at greater risk due to their limited ability to organize and seek redress for work-related injuries. American slaughterhouse workers are three times more likely to suffer serious injury than

4212-412: The growing community around the stockyards. Led by Timothy Blackstone , a founder and the first president of the Union Stock Yards and Transit Company, "The Yards" experienced tremendous growth. Processing two million animals yearly by 1870, in two decades the number rose to nine million by 1890. Between 1865 and 1900, approximately 400 million livestock were butchered within the confines of the Yards. By

4290-590: The immediate descendants of immigrants. The publication of the Upton Sinclair novel The Jungle in the U.S. in 1906 shocked the public with the poor working conditions and unsanitary practices in the meat-packing plants in the United States, specifically Chicago . Meat-packing plants, like many industries in the early 20th century, overworked their employees, failed to maintain adequate safety measures, and actively fought unionization. Meat-packing workers were exposed to dangerous chemicals and sharp machinery, and routinely suffered horrible injuries. Public pressure of

4368-544: The industry to a national scale: In Milwaukee, Philip Armour , an ambitious entrepreneur from New York who made his fortune in Army contracts during the war, partnered with Jacob Plankinton to build a highly efficient stockyard that serviced the upper Midwest. Chicago built the famous Union Stockyards in 1865 on 345 swampy acres to the south of downtown. Armour opened the Chicago plant, as did Nelson Morris , another wartime contractor. Cincinnati and Buffalo , both with good water and rail service, also opened stockyards. Perhaps

4446-412: The industry were black, and other major cities, such as Omaha, Nebraska , where they were an important minority in the industry. UPWA workers made important gains in wages, hours and benefits. In 1957, the stockyards and meat-packing plants employed half the workers of Omaha. The union supported a progressive agenda, including the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. While the work was still difficult, for

4524-410: The livestock locally rather than transferring it to other northern cities for butchering and processing. Keeping up with the huge number of animals arriving each day proved impossible until a new wave of consolidation and modernization altered the meatpacking business in the post-Civil War era. The Union Stock Yards, designed to consolidate operations, was built in 1864 on marshland south of the city. It

4602-429: The major meatpacking companies resisted change, but Swift and Armour both surrendered and vacated their plants in the Yards in the 1950s. In 1971, the area bounded by Pershing Road, Ashland, Halsted, and 47th Street became The Stockyards Industrial Park . The neighborhood to the west and south of the industrial park is still known as Back of the Yards , and is still home to a thriving immigrant population. A remnant of

4680-429: The most energetic entrepreneur was Gustavus Franklin Swift , the Yankee who operated out of Boston and moved to Chicago in 1875, specializing in long distance refrigerated meat shipments to eastern cities. A practical refrigerated (ice-cooled) rail car was introduced in 1881. This made it possible to ship cattle and hog carcasses, which weighed only 40% as much as live animals; the entire national market, served by

4758-399: The neighborhood was the smell of the community caused not just by the packing plants located immediately to the east, but also by the 345-acre Chicago Union Stock Yards containing 2,300 pens of livestock, located further east from the packing plants. Settlement in the area that was to become known as the "Back of the Yards" began in the 1850s before there were any meat packers or stockyards in

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4836-413: The neighborhood. Additionally, there was a "Hair Factory", located at 44th Street and Ashland Avenue, which processed hair from butchered animals into saleable items. Next to the Union Stock Yards, the International Amphitheatre building was built on the west side of Halsted Street at 42nd Street in the 1930s, originally to hold the annual International Live Stock Exposition which began in 1900. It became

4914-432: The north by 43rd Street and on the south by 47th Street. At first, the residents were overwhelmingly Irish and German—60% Irish and 30% German. Officially designated the "Town of Lake" until its incorporation into the City of Chicago in about 1870, the neighborhood was known locally as "Packingtown". However, much later in the 1930s, the community would become known as the "Back of the Yards". The overwhelming sensation about

4992-426: The number of jobs fell sharply due to technology and other changes. Wages fell during the latter part of the 20th century, and eventually, both Chicago (in 1971) and Omaha (in 1999) closed their stockyards. The workforce increasingly relied on recent migrants from Mexico. Argentina had the natural resources and human talent to build a world-class meat-packing industry. However, its success in reaching European markets

5070-552: The other major meat-packing cities had been South St. Paul, Minnesota ; East St. Louis, Illinois ; Dubuque, Iowa ; Kansas City, Missouri ; Austin, Minnesota ; Sioux Falls, South Dakota ; and Sioux City, Iowa . Mid-century restructuring by the industry of the stockyards, slaughterhouses and meat-packing plants led to relocating facilities closer to cattle feedlots and swine production facilities, to more rural areas, as transportation shifted from rail to truck. It has been difficult for labor to organize in such locations. In addition,

5148-560: The people involved. A 2016 study in Organization indicates, "Regression analyses of data from 10,605 Danish workers across 44 occupations suggest that slaughterhouse workers consistently experience lower physical and psychological well-being along with increased incidences of negative coping behavior". A 2009 study by criminologist Amy Fitzgerald indicates, "slaughterhouse employment increases total arrest rates, arrests for violent crimes, arrests for rape, and arrests for other sex offenses in comparison with other industries". As authors from

5226-475: The railroads, was opened up, as well as transatlantic markets using refrigerated ships . Swift developed an integrated network of cattle procurement, slaughtering, meat-packing, and shipping meat to market. Up to that time, cattle were driven great distances to railroad shipping points, causing the cattle to lose considerable weight. Swift developed a large business, which grew in size with the entry of several competitors. The Bureau of Corporations , predecessor of

5304-471: The rate at which they process animals. For instance, workers were expected to process 175 birds per minute up from 140 birds per minute. In part this was due to shortages of workers. Workers within the industry were often in the news for large outbreaks within factories. By its nature meat processing requires close proximity to other workers and exposure to a slew of bacteria and viruses. Additionally, workers often have to yell over loud machinery which increases

5382-434: The rise and fall of the district reflect the evolution of transportation services and technology in America. The stockyards have become an integral part of the popular culture of Chicago's history. They are considered one of the chief drivers that empowered the animal–industrial complex into its modern form. From the Civil War until the 1920s and peaking in 1924, more meat was processed in Chicago than in any other place in

5460-718: The start of the 20th century, the stockyards employed 25,000 people and produced 82 percent of the domestic meat consumed nationally. In 1921, the stockyards employed 40,000 people. Two thousand men worked directly for the Union Stock Yard & Transit Co., and the rest worked for companies such as meatpackers, which had plants in the stockyards. By 1900, the 475-acre (1.92 km) stockyard contained 50 miles (80 km) of road, and had 130 miles (210 km) of track along its perimeter. At its largest area, The Yards covered nearly 1 square mile (3 km) of land, from Halsted Street to Ashland Avenue and from 39th (now Pershing Rd.) to 47th Streets. At one time, 500,000 US gallons (2,000 m)

5538-423: The stockyards was due to both the concentration of railroads and the evolution of refrigerated railroad cars . Its decline was due to further advances in post–World War II transportation and distribution. Direct sales of livestock from breeders to packers, facilitated by advancement in interstate trucking , made it cheaper to slaughter animals where they were raised and excluded the intermediary stockyards. At first,

5616-478: The transport of stock to central points for processing, and the transport of products. Before the American Civil War , the meat industry was localized, with farmers providing beef and hogs for nearby butchers to serve the local market. Large Army contracts during the Civil War attracted entrepreneurs with a vision for building much larger markets. The 1865–1873 era provided five factors that expanded

5694-463: The world. Construction began in June 1865 with an opening on Christmas Day in 1865. The Yards closed at midnight on Friday, July 30, 1971, after several decades of decline during the decentralization of the meatpacking industry. The neo-gothic Union Stock Yard Gate (1877) on Exchange Avenue was designated a Chicago Landmark on February 24, 1972, and a National Historic Landmark on May 29, 1981, and

5772-416: Was limited by the poor quality control in the production of its meat and the general inferiority of frozen meat to the chilled meat exported by the United States and Australia. By 1900, the Argentine government encouraged investment in the industry to improve quality. The British dominated the world shipping industry and began fitting their ships for cold air containers, and built new refrigerated steamers. When

5850-514: Was located at Polk (800 S) and Halsted. The "Hull House Neighborhood," which was served by the Jane Addams settlement house, consisted of recently arrived immigrants at the turn of the 20th century. Taylor Street (1000 S) was the port-of-call for Chicago's Italian American immigrants and became known as Chicago's Little Italy. Italians were the only ethnic group that remained after the exodus of Jews, Greeks, Irish, etc. that began shortly before

5928-445: Was opened to the public. The Bulls Head Stock Yards were located at Madison Street and Ogden Avenue. In the years that followed, several small stockyards were scattered throughout the city. Between 1852 and 1865, five railroads were constructed to Chicago. The stockyards that sprang up were usually built along various rail lines of these new railroad companies. Some railroads built their own stockyards in Chicago. The Illinois Central and

6006-402: Was seen as far away as Indiana, and caused approximately $ 6 million worth of damages. One employee and 8,000 head of cattle died. The yards were in business the following Sunday evening. Following the opening of the new Union Stockyards on December 25, 1865, a community of workers began living in the area just west of the packing plants between Ashland Avenue and South Robey Street and bounded on

6084-626: Was south and west of the earlier stock yards in an area bounded by Halsted Street on the east, South Racine Avenue on the west, with 39th Street as the northern boundary and 47th Street as the southern boundary. Led by the Alton, Chicago & St. Louis Railroad and the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway , a consortium of nine railroad companies (hence the " Union " name) acquired the 320-acre (1.3 km) marshland area in southwest Chicago for US$ 100,000 in 1864. The stockyards were connected to

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