City history
From its Miami-Illinois origin along a wild-leek portage to hosting the 1883 convention that established standard time zones, Chicago shaped modern timekeeping.
Chapter one
Indigenous name
"Wild leek or wild garlic"
Refers to the wild leek or garlic plant (Allium tricoccum) that grew abundantly along the Chicago River. The Miami and Illinois peoples also used the word for striped skunk due to the plant's strong, pungent odor.
Wild leek or wild garlic
Original Miami-Illinois name for the local river basin and portage where wild garlic grew.
French transliteration of Shikaakwa
Recorded in journals by French explorers such as La Salle and rendered on early regional maps.
Anglicized municipal name
Organized as a settlement in 1833 with around 200 residents at the mouth of the Chicago River.
Incorporated city name
Officially chartered as a city on March 4, 1837, quickly growing into North America's principal railway hub.
Chapter two
At Chicago's Grand Pacific Hotel, railroad executives convened on October 11, 1883, to establish standard time zones across North America. On November 18, 1883, Chicago shifted from local solar time to Central Standard Time.
Congress passed the Standard Time Act of 1918, officially recognizing U.S. time zones and implementing federal daylight saving time during World War I to conserve energy.
Following federal repeal after World War I, Chicago voters approved a local referendum on November 2, 1920, establishing municipal daylight saving time to stay aligned with eastern financial markets.
Seeking alignment with New York markets, Chicago City Council voted to operate on Eastern Standard Time year-round. However, confusion and public backlash led to a referendum restoring Central Standard Time with summer DST.
The U.S. Uniform Time Act standardized start and end dates for daylight saving time across Illinois and the nation, resolving decades of confusing municipal time variations.
Chapter three
The Dearborn Observatory of Chicago began sending precise astronomical telegraph signals to sync downtown clocks, local railways, and the Chicago Board of Trade.
The Great Chicago Fire destroyed downtown buildings and civic clock towers, leading to rapid rebuilding and modern central clock installations across the rising metropolis.
A majestic ornate cast-iron clock was erected at State and Washington streets outside Marshall Field's department store, quickly becoming Chicago's quintessential public meeting spot.
The 30-story Wrigley Building completed its iconic 425-foot clock tower on Michigan Avenue, featuring four clock faces illuminated above the Chicago River.
Founded on the Lake Michigan shore, the Adler Planetarium opened as America's first planetarium, preserving an extraordinary collection of antique sundials, astrolabes, and historic clocks.