1939-1941 WPA Land Use Maps of the Loop

In the final years of the Depression, the Works Progress Administration (the WPA) engaged in an exhaustive survey of the uses to which Chicago's built environment was put. The census and data workers flooded the area and derived what is still one of the most exhaustive and rewarding 'snapshots' of a major urban center. Published in 1941, it retains its value as a comparative guide to the city at a particular moment in its history.

We have provided a set of the maps below: they present the building types and the uses to which they were put.

• Legend for Land Use Maps.  (70K)
• Land Use In the Northeast Loop: Chicago Ave. to Madison Street, Lakefront to State Street.  (361K)
• Land Use In the Northwest Loop: Chicago Ave. to Madison Street, State Street to Halsted Street.  (392K)
• Land Use In the Southeast Loop: Madison Street. to Roosevelt Road., Lakefront to State Street.  (252K)
• Land Use In the Southwest Loop: Madison Street. to Roosevelt Road., State Street to Halsted Street.  (357K)
• Link to Imagemap to the Entire Loop's WPA dataset. (Under Construction)