The Hyde Park Historical Society published a description of the Life and Death of Chicago's great Ferris Wheel of 1893 in their Spring 2000 Newsletter. It was written by Patrick Meehan in 1964 while he was a 4th year Mechanical Engineering student at the University of British Columbia. His paper was published at that time in The UBC Engineer and was discovered for the Society by their late member and insightful writer, Jim Stronks. In 1890, the U.5 Congress decided that the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America should be centered in Chicago, and accordingly, on April 9, the State of Illinois licensed the corporation known as the World's Columbian Exposition to prepare this great event.
The Corporation's directors, in October, 1890, appointed the rising architect, Daniel H. Burnham, Construction Chief and delegated to him autocratic powers. Burnham, architect of the first "skyscrapers," was a good bet to score a smashing success, both for the Exposition and for himself£ At this early stage, he was chiefly concerned at the lack of participation by America's civil engineers.
Seeking to stir them into action, he arranged to speak before the "Saturday Afternoon Club," an informal group of architects and engineers who were interested in the Fair. Their gatherings had served as a sort of public opinion poll on many of the architectural and engineering structures of the Exposition.
Burnham's speech was cleverly contrived to produce immediate reaction: he asserted that the architects of America had covered themselves with glory and enduring fame by their artistic skill and original designs for mammoth buildings, while the civil engineers had contributed very little or nothing in the way of originating novel features or of demonstrating the possibilities of modern engineering practices in America. He called on them to provide some distinctive feature, something to fill the relative position in the World's Columbian Exposition that was filled by the 984 foot Eiffel Tower at the Paris Exposition in 1889. It was immediately proposed to build a tower 500 feet higher than Eiffel's, but since this would be playing second fiddle to Eiffel's genius, this idea was dismissed. Mere bigness was not what was wanted. Something novel, original, daring and unique must be designed and built if American engineers were to retain their prestige and standing.
Seated in the audience was a tall, slight young engineer with a pale, resolute face. This was George Washington Gale Ferris, at that time the senior partner in a firm specializing in building steel bridges. Thirty-two years old, he had been educated at the California Military Academy and Rensseler Polytechnic Institute, where he received an engineering degree in 1881. For several years, he had worked on railroads and mining ventures and was one of the first to make a profession of testing materials and structures.
The popular story is that Ferris designed the wheel while at dinner with friends in a Chicago restaurant and that it was built without a change being made to this original sketch. There is some evidence, however, that he had designed the Wheel five or six years prior to the Exposition and it is possible that he chose a quiet moment after dinner to reveal these plans.
Ferris decided that this was the proper time and the opportunity he had been looking for to build his Great Wheel and he at once set about this monumental task.
I. Getting the Concession
Designing the Wheel was no easy task, even for experienced engineers. Stresses for such a structure had never been determined ... so the theory of design had to be derived from first principles. Difficulties were also met in obtaining financing ... for in 1892, the country was in the midst of a severe depression... but Ferris's quiet yet enthusiastic manner inspired confidence and the Ferris Wheel Company was eventually capitalized at $600,000. Armed with completed plans and guaranteed financing, Ferris approached the Columbian Exposition's Ways and Means Committee in the spring of 1892. His ideas were treated as those of a lunatic... and he became known as "The Man with Wheels in his Head." The engineers and architects of the Saturday Afternoon Club believed he was making a fool of himself as they loudly proclaimed that his wheel could not be built or, if it could, it could not be operated. But Ferris persisted and after much effort, the Committee granted him a concession to build the Wheel, not in Jackson Park, the main grounds, but in Central Avenue on the Midway. By the terms of this concession, granted December 16,1892, The Ferris Wheel Company was to retain $300,000 received from the sale of tickets, after which one-half o the gross receipts were to be paid to the Exposition.
II. Building the Wheel
By the time the concession was granted it was midwinter - only four months until the opening of the Exposition. Since no single shop could begin to do all the work, contracts were let to several different firms, each chosen for its ability to do the particular job entrusted to it. Great precision was required as few of the parts could be assembled until they were on site. Ferris called on Luther Rice, also only thirty-two ( as was Ferris) and only three years out of Engineering School, to become Construction Chief of the project. The foundation work was proceeding slowly in the face of the most severe winter that Chicago had experienced in many years. The frost at the Wheel site was three feet deep and was underlain by twenty feet of saturated sand, which could, when disturbed by construction activities or vibration, suddenly behave like the proverbial quicksand. Pumps were kept running day and night... live steam was piped in to thaw the frozen sand and later to keep the concrete from freezing before it had set. Piles were driven a further 32 feet... to hardpan and upon steel beams resting on these piles were placed the eight monolithic reinforced concrete and masonry piers 20 by 20 by 35 feet which were to support the towers which in turn would support the axle. On March 18, 1893, the 89,320 pound axle, forged in Pittsburgh by the Bethlehem Iron Company, arrived in Chicago... the largest hollow forging in the world at the time, it was 45 1/2 feet long, 33 inches in diameter... Four and one-half feet from each end it carried two 16 foot diameter cast-iron spiders weighing 53,031 pounds. On March 20, placing of the first tower post was completed... shortly after came the problem of raising the axle. In an amazingly short two hours, the immense axle assembly was hoisted to the top of the 140 feet high towers and placed neatly in its sturdy pillow blocks.
Next came the assembly of the actual wheel a very involved process. Meanwhile, the power plant was being constructed over 700 feet away and completely outside the grounds. Ten inch steam pipes fed two 1000 hp reversible engines one to be used for driving the wheel and the second being held in readiness as an emergency reserve. A Westinghouse air brake was used to control the Wheel and to hold it motionless when desired.
The Columbian Exposition opened on May 1,1893, while the steelworkers barely paused to watch, high on the growing Wheel. By June 9, the Wheel, as yet without cars, was ready for a trial run. At six o'clock in the evening with trusted men stationed at various points, Rice ordered the steam turned on. Slowly, without a creak or groan and only the soft clink of the chain, the great wheel began to turn... in twenty minutes, it had completed one revolution. When he got the word, Ferris, who was in Pittsburgh at the time, immediately ordered the 36 cars hung.
Visitors and participants at the Exposition had viewed the Wheel as an enigma, but the sight of it moving slowly on that summer evening galvanized them into action... from all sides crowds formed, shouting , gesturing... On June 10, one car was hung; by June 13, twenty more had been added and the offices and loading platforms practically completed.
The cars were 24 feet long, 13 feet wide, and 10 feet high, and weighed 26,000 pounds. Each car carried fancy twisted wire chairs for 38 of the 60 passengers. The five large plate glass windows on each side were fitted with heavy screens and the doors at each end were provided with secure locks.. firefighting equipment was carried as a safeguard.. Six platforms were arranged to speed loading and unloading, with a guard at each t9 signal the operator when his car was filled and locked. Conductors rode in each car to answer patrons' questions or, if necessary, to calm their fears.
On June 11, with six cars hung, Daniel Burnham arrived to take a trial trip and Margaret Ferris, who had often given words of encouragement to workers on the Wheel, also went along~the Wheel's first woman passenger. At six o'clock on June 13, Rice held a trial trip for the local press who were very enthusiastic in their praise... correspondents, particularly those from foreign countries, began making repeated requests for drawings and data, but Ferris appears to have been very reticent about releasing details. As a consequence, no copies of the original plans or calculations have survived.
III. The Grand Opening and Successful Run
June 21st dawned clear and bright, and for a little while, it seemed to the men who had labored so tirelessly, that the sun rising over Lake Michigan was rotating around the axle of their Wheel. Important investors and various dignitaries dressed in their Sunday best, were gathered about. On the speakers' platform were the officers of the company and other important persons. The last speaker was Ferris. In this moment of triumph, his happily framed speech drew attention to the fact that he "had gotten the wheels out of his head and made them a living reality." The final success he attributed to his wife, Margaret, who had encouraged and comforted him in the most difficult times. In conclusion, he dedicated his work to the engineers of America. Mrs. Ferris handed him a golden whistle which he blew as the signal to start up the Wheel. The Iowa State Band struck up "America" and to the cheers of the assembled thousands, the Great Wheel slowly and majestically revolved, towering above them in its magnificence.
The Wheel was opened to the public and ran without the slightest difficulty until November 6, 1893. A trip consisted of one revolution, during which six stops were made for loading, followed by one nine-minute, nonstop revolution.
On a clear day, patrons could not only see the Fairgrounds and City, but miles out onto the lake and the surrounding states of Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and Michigan. Attendance on dark smoky days was nearly as heavy as on good days, so it seems the Wheel itself was more of an attraction than the unprecedented view it offered. 3000 of Edison's new incandescent light bulbs were mounted on the Wheel and made it a dazzling sight as they blinked on and off. The complete story and more about what happened to the wheel can be found at The Big Wheel
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Contributor's Note
The Hyde Park Historical Society is a rich source of information about Chicago history, particularly in Hyde Park.
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