One of Chicago's first business leaders, Gurdon S. Hubbard worked in the town during the 1820s, when it was little more than an outpost of the American Fur Co. In the 1830s, Hubbard became one of the town's first meatpackers. By the mid-1840s, his packing enterprise was slaughtering as many as 400 hogs a day during the winter months. Hubbard continued to be a leading Chicago packer during the 1850s, when he shipped barrels of salted beef and pork to customers in the East. Hubbard's company lasted through the Civil War, but by the 1870s it was no longer among the city's important packers.

This entry is part of the Encyclopedia's Dictionary of Leading Chicago Businesses (1820-2000) that was prepared by Mark R. Wilson, with additional contributions from Stephen R. Porter and Janice L. Reiff.