The World's Columbian Exposition (the official shortened name for the World's Fair: Columbian Exposition, also known as The Chicago World's Fair) was aWorld's Fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary ofChristopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. Chicago bested New York City; Washington, D.C.; and St. Louis for the honor of hosting the fair. The fair had a profound effect on architecture, the arts, Chicago's self-image, and American industrial optimism. The Chicago Columbian Exposition was, in large part, designed by Daniel Burnham and Frederick Law Olmsted. It was the prototype of what Burnham and his colleagues thought a city should be. It was designed to followBeaux Arts principles of design, namely French neoclassical architecture principles based on symmetry, balance, and splendor.
The exposition covered more than 600 acres (2.4 km2), featuring nearly 200 new (but purposefully temporary) buildings of predominately neoclassical architecture, canalsand lagoons, and people and cultures from around the world. More than 27 million people (equivalent to about half the U.S. population) attended the exposition during its six-month run. Its scale and grandeur far exceeded the other world fairs, and it became a symbol of the emerging American Exceptionalism, much in the same way that the Great Exhibitionbecame 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. This had destroyed much of the city in 1871. On October 9, 1893, the day designated as Chicago Day, the fair set a record for outdoor event attendance, drawing 716,881 persons to the fair.
Many prominent civic, professional, and commercial leaders from around the United States participated in the financing, coordination, and management of the Fair, including Chicago shoe tycoon Charles Schwab, Chicago railroad and manufacturing magnate John Whitfield Bunn, and Connecticut banking, insurance, and iron products magnate Milo Barnum Richardson, among many others.
The exposition was such a major event in Chicago that one of the stars on the municipal flag honors it.
World's Fair: Columbian Exposition Photo Gallery
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| The Statue of the Republic overlooks the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893 |
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| Print of Chicago World Fair 1893 |
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| Jackson Park (Chicago) during the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition |
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| WorldColumbianExpositionExhibitHall |
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| White City |
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| The Administration Building, seen from the Agricultural Building. |
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| Midway Plaisance |
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| A train of the Intramural Railway |
Posted in: World Fairs
