American Historical Ephemera and Photography

SHAW, William, photographer. CDV of first house built following the Chicago fire. [Chicago, IL]: 1871. 

CDV on cardstock mount (toning and a few scratches to print surface, light clipping to mount edges). Verso bears adhered piece of paper featuring "Shaw's Photograph Parlors" imprint and ink inscribed caption reading, "first house Ever built after the great fire in Chicago Oct ninth 1871. Mr. William Kerfoots house." Image features a newly constructed building featuring numerous signs, among them "W.D. Kerfoot's Block [indecipherable];" "Real Estate Office Wm. D. Kerfoot;" and "89 Washington Street." Several men, including Kerfoot, stand before the building. Ruins and rubble are visible in the background. 

William D. Kerfoot (1837-1918) was a real estate agent and operator who lost nearly everything in the October 9th fire. The following day, he set to work building a structure in which to conduct business, and by noon there was a 12 x 16 foot wooden board shanty as seen in the image here. On one of the signs surmounting the building, he wrote, "W.D. Kerfoot. / Everything gone but wife, children, and energy."