Making of the Ferris Wheel

A part of the team inspecting steel for the massive fair, the 33-year-old Ferris brainstormed and sketched a massive rotating wheel as tall as the newly built Statue of Liberty that could carry patrons high above the crowds on a cyclical journey. Amusement wheels like this using wood could be traced far back in history, but nothing came close to the sheer magnitude of the young engineer’s proposal. Burnham, upon hearing the idea, worried such a structure was not possible due to its size and steel spokes being too fragile. Ever determined, Ferris invested $25,000 of his own money to get investors, studies, and the backing of more engineers to prove his wheel could work. By the end of 1892, the wary Burnham approved George Ferris’s plan, moving forward with the plan to hopefully “Out Eiffel Eiffel.”

Rising to 264 feet, the mighty “Ferris Wheel” contained 36 cars that could hold 60 people each, giving the ride the ability to host 2,164 patrons at any given time. The modern marvel was an instant sensation, with 1.4 million people paying fifty cents to ride the wheel for twenty minutes and behold views they could have never conceived in their lifetimes. It was the tallest object in Chicago by far, giving even locals a chance to view their city and Lake Michigan in a completely new way. 

Though the original Ferris Wheel no longer stands, multiple iterations of its design exist in cities all over the world, including Chicago. Ferris’s daring invention made a global impact still felt today, with his design being used in various tourist attractions and festivals – the original wheel was even used at the subsequent American Exposition in St. Louis. While the original did not reach the landmark preservation status of that particular Parisian landmark, does one ever see an Eiffel Tower at a carnival?