Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 – 125th Anniversary!

The World’s Columbian Exposition, aka the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893 marks it’s 125th anniversary today. The fair’s opening day was May 1, 1893 and it ran through October 30, 1893.  The fair was held to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the New World in 1492. It was also a way to show the world that Chicago had successfully rebuilt after the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. It was located on approximately 690 acres in Jackson Park and Midway Plaisance. It was attended by approximately 27,300,000 visitors from all over the world and 46 countries had booths set up at the fair.

The layout of the fairgrounds and buildings of the fair were designed by architects John Wellborn Root, Daniel Burnham, Frederick Law Olmsted and Charles Atwood. The fairgrounds came to be known as “The White City”. It was a prototype of what these architects thought a city should look like. The White City is believed to have started what is now modern city planning. The buildings were done in the Beaux Arts Neoclassical style with mostly white materials. Other architects of the time also played a part in designing the 14 main(great) buildings and the other nearly 200 temporary buildings and structures (canals and lagoons) of the fair.

The 14 main/ great buildings built around a giant reflective pool called the Grand Basin were: The Administration Building, the Agricultural Building, the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, the Mines and Mining Building, the Electricity Building, the Machinery Hall, the Woman’s Building, the Transportation Building, the Fisheries Building, the Forestry Building, the Horticultural Building and the Anthropology Building.

It was the largest world’s fair of its time and was a symbol of American Exceptionalism and industrialization. Many new products and services were debuted at the fair. The Midway Plaisance was the carnival and amusements area that contained the world’s first Ferris Wheel. The fair also introduced the first moving walkway, now known as a “people mover” like at airports. Advances in the use of electricity were also showcased. Other products such as Juicy Fruit Gum, Cream of Wheat, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer and Vienna Sausage frankfurters were introduced at the fair. American artists and musicians were also featured extensively at the fair. It was also the first time the Pledge of Allegiance was recited in public. There were many others first that are too numerous to mention.

Since the buildings and other structures of the fair were meant to be temporary, not many survive today, but a few did. What was known as the Palace of Fine Arts is now the Museum of Science and Industry. There is a Midway Plaisance ice rink where the Ferris Wheel once stood. The sculpture known as the Statue of the Republic is gone, but there’s a replica in Jackson Park. Also, Wooded Island that was at the center of the fair was restored in 2015.There’s also a star on the Chicago Flag to symbolize the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago!

Photos courtesy of Wikipedia –