Item Type: Event

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World's Fairs

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Chicago

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built for event (6)

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attended event (5)

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depicting event (2)

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World's Columbian Exposition (1893)

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Alternative NameChicago World's FairSearch Linked Materials DescriptionThe World's Columbian Exposition was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centrepiece of the Fair, held in Jackson Park, was a large water pool representing the voyage Columbus took to the New World. Chicago had won the right to host the fair over several other cities, including New York City, Washington, D.C., and St. Louis. The exposition was an influential social and cultural event and had a profound effect on American architecture, the arts, American industrial optimism, and Chicago's image.

The layout of the Chicago Columbian Exposition was, in large part, designed by John Wellborn Root, Daniel Burnham, Frederick Law Olmsted and Charles B. Atwood. It was the prototype of what Burnham and his colleagues thought a city should be. It was designed to follow Beaux-Arts principles of design, namely neoclassical architectural principles based on symmetry, balance, and splendour. The colour of the material generally used to cover the buildings' façades (white staff) gave the fairgrounds its nickname, the White City. Many prominent architects designed its 14 "great buildings". Artists and musicians were featured in exhibits, and many also made depictions and works of art inspired by the exposition.

The exposition covered 690 acres (2.8 km2), featuring nearly 200 new (but deliberately temporary) buildings of predominantly neoclassical architecture, canals and lagoons, and people and cultures from 46 countries. More than 27 million people attended the exposition during its six-month run. Its scale and grandeur far exceeded the other world's fairs, and it became a symbol of the emerging American Exceptionalism, much in the same way that the Great Exhibition became a symbol of the Victorian era United Kingdom.

Dedication ceremonies for the fair were held on October 21, 1892, but the fairgrounds were not actually opened to the public until May 1, 1893. The fair continued until October 30, 1893. In addition to recognizing the 400th anniversary of the discovery of the New World by Europeans, the fair also served to show the world that Chicago had risen from the ashes of the Great Chicago Fire, which had destroyed much of the city in 1871.

On October 9, 1893, the day designated as Chicago Day, the fair set a world record for outdoor event attendance, drawing 751,026 people. The debt for the fair was soon paid off with a check for $1.5 million (equivalent to $45.2 million in 2021). Chicago has commemorated the fair with one of the stars on its municipal flag.Date1893CollectionWorld's FairsExternal LinkWikipedia: World's Columbian Exposition (1893)PlaceChicagoRecollect FeatureCustom Search BoxMenuEvents | 1850-1899 | 1890s

Image

World's Columbian Exposition: Ferris Wheel, Chicago, United States, 1893

Court of Honor from Administration Building

East Court in Old Vienna

Ferris Wheel - From The West

The Midway, From Ferris Wheel, Looking East

The Midway, Looking East

The Ferris Wheel

Ferris wheel at the Chicago World's Fair

Large ferris wheel at the World's Columbian Exposition

Opening day, 1893

World's Columbian Exposition: Administration Building, Chicago, United States, 1893

World's Columbian Exposition: Electricity Building, Chicago, United States, 1893

Nikola Tesla's personal exhibit at the 1893 Chicago World's Columbian Exposition Fair

Carter H. Harrison's last speech, World's Fair, October 28, 1893

The Krupp Building

The Nina and Pinta

The Santa Maria

Convent of La Rabida

The Moving Sidewalk of Pier

Place

Ferris Wheel

Terminal Station

The Peristyle

Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building

Electricity Building

Administration Building

Person

Helen Keller

Grover Cleveland

Frederick Douglass

Carter Harrison Sr.

Nikola Tesla

Map

Bird's eye view of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893.

World's Columbian Exposition Souvenir Map

Collection

Official Views Of The World's Columbian Exposition Backlink Album

Bird's eye view of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893.
Library of Congress
https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4104c.pm001522/