The Ferris Wheel and The Columbian Exposition of 1893

Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

While conducting research for my next book, I’ve had to delve into the goings on in and around the Geneva Lake area during the 1890s (in Wisconsin) that I’ve been featuring in most of my monthly posts here. Realizing that the Columbian Exposition in Chicago took place in 1893, I knew I had to include the worlds' fair of that time in my storyline.






There are so many interesting facts and stories related to the event, I could take a whole year with a different story about the fair every month. It seems appropriate, since this post will be appearing on the Fourth of July, that I focus on how the world’s first Ferris wheel happened to be introduced at the Columbian Exposition. After all, many people attend carnivals and fairs during that holiday and most all of them include a Ferris wheel. 

The Wheel as it Looked at the fair.
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Architect and Director of Works of the Columbian Exposition, Daniel H. Burnham and his partner John W. Root knew they needed something new and unique to outdo the Eiffel tower that was introduced at the previous world's fair in Paris, France. Construction of the fair landscaping and buildings had already begun when bridge-builder George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. told him that he could build an amazing, never-seen-before structure that would blow everyone’s minds. Of course, he didn’t use that phrasing, so familiar to us today, but his words reflected the same meaning. Burnham was skeptical, but no one else had come even close with an idea to match that of a large metal wheel that carried cars of people and rotated vertically.

During one of Chicago’s most frigid of winters, Ferris received the go ahead, and they didn’t have the luxury of waiting for spring to get started. His team used dynamite to blast through three feet of frozen ground in order to build the strong foundation needed to support the giant wheel. Then construction workers had to regularly direct shots of steam to the ground to keep it thawed. Later when concrete was poured, steam was used to keep the concrete from freezing before it hardened.

A Unique view from one of the cars on the Ferris Wheel. Note the people

inside the cars.

Fast forward to just before the fair’s grand opening in late spring. Except for some fits and starts at first, the wheel did well on its first dry run with only one of the 36 cars attached. The following day, workers began attaching the rest of the cars, each with a capacity of 60 people. If all the cars were filled to capacity, a total of 2,160 people could enjoy several rotations of the wheel. At the very highest point 264 feet above ground, where each car was stopped for a few moments, people were amazed at how far they could see. To the east, Lake Michigan stretched out to the horizon, to the north were the city’s newest “sky scrapers,” and to the west and south, views of the ever-enlarging city scape seemed to go on for miles. 

Whenever I fly into Chicago and the pilot takes us over the city and lake, I can never get enough of the view, which is far higher than 240 feet, but back in 1893, seeing such a sight was unheard of.

No doubt the Ferris Wheel was one of the great hits of the Columbian Exposition. After the fair ended it’s six month run, it was dismantled piece by piece and moved to Lincoln Park, located just north of downtown Chicago. Then in 1903, it was dismantled again and taken to St. Louis, Missouri for the world’s fair there. After that fair, it was destroyed.

The first Ferris wheel may be gone for good, but since then, Ferris wheels of all sizes and styles have been featured at fairs and entertainment venues all over the world. Chicago is not without a standout Ferris wheel today. Navy Pier, an historical building which has been repurposed as an entertainment venue, just constructed a new Ferris wheel to replace the one that has been there for years. I've not ridden a Ferris Wheel for years, but after learning about the very first one, I think I might have to add riding a Ferris Wheel again to my bucket list.

Have you ridden a Ferris Wheel? What is the biggest one you've been on?

Resources for Photos:

Photo of the Ferris Wheel at the Exposition By Arghyaju via Wikimedia Commons

Photo from inside the wheel: Brooklyn Museum via Wikimedia Commons

Resource for information: The Devil in White City, Erik Larson, Vintage Books, 2003

Pam has written most of her life, beginning with her first diary at age eight.  Her newest release, Safe Refuge, is the first of three novels in her Newport of the West series. She resides in northern Illinois with her two rescue cats and is only an hour or so away from her home town of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin where she can often be found researching and nosing for new story ideas.

One of the First One-Room Schools in Walworth County, Wisconsin is Still in Use Today

                     

By Pamela S. Meyers

Over the past year or so, I’ve been highlighting the historic estates and mansions that have populated the shores of Geneva Lake in southeastern Wisconsin since the 1870s.

While researching for my new book, Safe Refuge, I learned about an Irish settlement, called Irish Woods, located along the north shore of the lake. Not directly on the water where the large homes were being built, but a short distance inland.

Picture of seal and sign affixed to original 
brick school. The plaque says
"established 1858." 
Photo by Pamela Meyers

In the mid 1850’s, train track was laid between Elgin, Illinois and the town of Geneva, Wisconsin (the town wouldn’t start being called Lake Geneva, WI until later when, when at the request of the post office, they were asked to add ‘Lake’ to the name to help distinguish it from Geneva, Illinois). Many Irish immigrants were hired to lay the track, starting in Elgin Illinois and ending in Geneva. When they got to the end of the line, they had no way back to Elgin since trains wouldn’t start using the track right away. Rich farmland to the west of town was available, and many decided to stay. Some developed farms and others found employment, including helping to construct the new Catholic Church on the east side of the village. Over time, the area became known to the locals as Irish Woods.

The original train track that brought the first Irish settlers to Irish Woods was only used for a few years before the train stopped running. In 1871, a new train track was built, this time between Chicago and Geneva. In October 1871, a few weeks after trains began regular runs to Geneva, the Great Chicago Fire ignited, and many more people came to the Geneva area via the new train to get away from the destruction.

When the first young families staked their claims to the land in 1858, they needed a school for their children. Property at the corner of State Highway 50 and the western end of Snake Road was donated, and the men of Irish Woods built a one-room frame schoolhouse.

The brick School. The stone wall was
also built by one of the Irish Woods settlers.

In 1886, that wood frame schoolhouse was moved to a farm to be repurposed as a cow barn and a brick school building was built. Over the years the school was enlarged several times, first operating as an independent school district, then as a school within the Lake Geneva School District. According to the Wisconsin Historical Society website, in the late fifties a consolidated high school was built and it was expected the students of Woods School would feed into the new Badger High School. Not liking this, the residents of Irish Woods voted to disconnect from the Lake Geneva school district and once again operate

Side view of school taken probably in
the 1950s. Note the playground equipment

independently.

If you go to the school’s website, you can see how it looks today. Just this past year the school was enlarged to almost double its size, but what is the original one-room brick building is still a visible part of the structure and now serves as the school’s library. 

I had a lot of fun including the Irish Woods settlement in my story. Nowadays, I enjoy driving past Woods School whenever I’m in the area and imagining what it must have been like back in the 19^th Century when it was a one-room school. I only wish I’d known it’s history when I grew up in Lake Geneva. But then, I probably wouldn’t have been as interested back then as I am now.

Did you attend a one-room school? Some of my classmates who came to the consolidated high school mentioned in this article did for at least part of their grade school years. I attended school in the town of Lake Geneva. My building was newer than Woods School. It was built in 1903.

Reference:

Wisconsin Historical Society, narrative information and pictures. Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, Woods School, Geneva Township, Ref Number 64452

Photo Credits: Black and White Photos: Wisconsin Historical Society; color photo: Pamela S. Meyers

Pam has written most of her life, beginning with her first diary at age eight. Her novels include Thyme For Love, Surprised by Love in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin (a reissue of Love Finds You in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin), Second Chance Love, and Safe Refuge. Whatever is True, a sequel to Second Chance Love, will publish in March 2019. Her novella, If These Walls Could Talk, was published in Coming Home: A Tiny House Collection.

Pam resides in northern Illinois with her two rescue cats. She’s an hour or so away from her hometown where she can be found researching and nosing for new story ideas.