I love everything about Chicago, was born there, and lived there for a year in 2008. However I only recently learned about the Chicago World Fair of 1893, regarded as one the biggest world fairs in history. I wrote about it here in my study of World Fairs, and learned that it is regarded as one of the most famous alongside the Paris Exposition of 1889. This massive event essentially put Chicago on the global map as an American super-city, 2nd only to New York City. Hosted in the south part of the city at Jackson Park for 6 months it attracted over 27 million visitors from all over the world. The event must have been a magical experience far greater then that of a theme park. The architecture was grand scale, the attractions were unending amusements, and electricity was making it's major debut. It was truly a city within a city, one that we can only now imagine thru photos and writings.
The Construction and Preparation
During the 1880s-1890s the world was experiencing an industrial boom, often referred to as the Gilded Age or the Belle Epoque. World expositions to demonstrate these industrial achievements first became popular in Europe during the 1850s. London hosted the first major one in 1851, followed by several events hosted by Paris. It was in 1889 when Paris shocked the world with it's mammoth Exposition Universelle that debuted the Eiffel Tower as the world's new tallest structure. America saw this as a statement and quickly began planning an event to surpass the scale of the Paris 1889 fair. It was agreed that they would host the fair in 1892 to commemorate the 400 year anniversary of Christopher Columbus discovering America (although the fair did not occur until a year after this). 
The commission of the Chicago Fair chose Daniel Burnham as chief architect of the project. He was a well established architect who alongside his partner John Root, had become the most prominent architecture firm in the city. Aside from building many mansions for Chicago's wealthy elite, particularly those associated to the Union Stock Yards, the Burnam and Root firm also built notable skyscrapers in Chicago including the Rookery Building and the Masonic Temple (which was the tallest building in Chicago from 1895 to 1920). This of course was a special project however and required many other architects to work alongside Burnam such as the famed landscape architect Frederick Olmsted. The design was to be one of a neo-classical city with elaborate and colorful landscaping, yet also one that could be easily brought down. Since it was to be a temporary event, most of the buildings were constructed in wood, covered in plaster, and painted white (Hence it's nickname the White City).
The Architecture of the White City
The electricity building was one of the more popular attractions within the fairgrounds. The electrical contract of the fair went to Tesla's Westinghouse Electric company instead of Edison's General Electric. Here in this central building were the latest technologies of the kinetoscope, search lights, incubators, seismograph, generators, and so forth. Both Edison and Tesla themselves showed up to the fair to give various demonstrations. Outside the main building there were exterior lights, spotlights, and even fountains with illumination. To see the fair lit up at night in 1893, must have been a very new and surreal experience for most citizens. At the center of the fairgrounds was a giant pool basin that housed the impressive Statue of the Republic (one of the iconic symbols of the event). Behind this pool was an impressive peristyle of Greek pillars, connected to a pier with a moving walkway, that overlooked the mighty Lake Michigan. The southern perimeter housed the livestock exhibits as well as the German guns and artillery of Friedrich Krupp. In the waters were replicas of the Columbus ships, as well as various smaller sailboats, gondolas, and foreign rowboats. To the north was the wooded island a popular scenic getaway that housed gardens and the Japanese pagoda surrounded by a lagoon. At the west of the fairgrounds was a long strip of entertainment, known as the Midway Plaisance. This housed all sorts of amusements, rides, and entertainment such as an ice ring and most famously the first ever Ferris Wheel. This behemoth construction was considered the answer to the Eiffel Tower and it's most popular attraction. It stood 264 feet and held 40 cars that could house 60 people at a time.
Along the perimeter of the fairgrounds were exhibits and buildings from 46 countries and all 50 states represented. The German Pavilion was one of the larger more impressive buildings alongside it's Krupp artillery building. Norway sent a replica of a 9th century Viking ship which sailed across the Atlantic. While the fair was inclusive of most nationalities and even women's rights it failed to bring attention to African American culture. There were many cases in which black citizens were not allowed entry into the main fairgrounds, only the Midway region (which housed most of the indigenous/exotic races) thus the term "White City" was used as a controversial term. Aside from it's controversies, crime, and scandals however the architecture was surreal and groundbreaking. It ushered in a new renaissance of urban development and beautification of cities all across the United States.
The Fair's Legacy
New Inventions and Debuts at the fair
- The Pledge of Allegiance
- The term, "Windy City"
- Cream of Wheat
- The Brownie
- Hershey's Chocolate
- Juicy Fruit gum
- Quaker Oats
- Shredded Wheats
- Pabst Blue Ribbon beer
- Aunt Jemima's syrup and pancake mix
- Cracker Jacks
- Vienna Beef hot dogs (now a staple of Chicago)
- 1st Moving Walkway
- The Ferris Wheel
