The view here, looking northwest over the intersection of LaSalle and Randolph streets, shows substantial commercial buildings and flimsy frame structures - some crowded two to a city lot - in close proximity to each other near the local center of government. On the northwest corner of Randolph and Lake is the Metropolitan Block, whose third floor contained Metropolitan Hall, which Frederick Francis Cook recalled as "the most capacious place of assembly in the city." In the years before the fire, this building also was the home of the Young Men's Association Library and Reading Rooms, precursor to the Chicago Public Library.
