Be Transported To Another Era With These Photos Of The 1893 World's Columbian Exposition In Illinois
By Melissa Mahoney|Published February 09, 2021
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Melissa Mahoney
Author
I'm an east coast girl living in a west coast world. I grew up in New England before moving to SoCal for several years. I then lived in NYC or a year before moving to AZ in 2009. I worked in the entertainment industry for many years of my adult life and have a deep love for photography, writing, and traveling around the U.S. as well as to far-flung locations around the world. Travel is my life and writing about it is a dream!
As a tribute to Christopher Columbus’ voyage to the New World 400 years prior, a fair was held in Chicago. It was 1893 when the World’s Columbian Exposition began and, during its six-month tenure, more than 27 million people attended. People were drawn to the sheer grandeur of the event.
The exposition spanned the area of 690 acres and featured 200, mainly, neoclassical-style buildings, most of which were temporary. The material used on the structures was white, and so it was given the name “White City.” The fair represented American Exceptionalism and represented 46 countries. Let’s step back in time now and look at some antique photographs from the World’s Columbian Exposition.
Famous landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmstead, planned out the site for the fair. Along with his partner, Harry Codman, Olmstead identified Jackson Park as the chosen site. Together, they designed the pools and canals that ran along Lake Michigan.
The Columbian Fountain represented the Arts and Industries and was placed in a prominent spot outside the Administration Building. The fountain was set inside an impressive circular basin with a diameter of 150 feet.
Located along the Midway, the central street at the fair, was a Ferris wheel, introduced for the first time in America, creating much excitement in the crowds. It was the tallest attraction at the exposition at the height of 264 feet.
This was quite the international event with mosques, a Moorish palace, an Indian reservation, belly dancers, Irish and German villages, and so much more.
The Horticulture Building was an impressive part of the event, with its giant crystal dome and plants on display like cacti, banana trees, and orchids which many people had not seen before.
Exhibition halls in the Court of Honors buildings showed some of the latest inventions and appliances to the public for the first time. Most notably, Edison's electric lightbulb was on display, making its debut to everyone's amazement.
The Cliff Dwellers was an interactive exhibit that showed an imitation of Battle Rock Mountain in the Mac Eimo Valley of Colorado. Attendees of the event could enter and feel like they were transported to the Southwest. They could also climb along pathways to the top for a view.
Sadly, very few structures from the World Columbian Exposition remain today as most were temporary and destroyed after it ended. But at least photos documenting this grand, historic event remain.
