RECENT POSTS ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION’S BUILDING, FAIRGROUNDS, EXHIBITS, EVENTS, AND PEOPLE.
June 13, 2026: “A Sweet Beginning: Milton Hershey at the 1893 World’s Fair” (Hershey, PA)
The Hershey Story, a museum dedicated to the legacy of chocolatier Milton S. Hershey, is hosting a special 1893 World’s Fair event on June 13 and 14, 2026. “A Sweet Beginning: Milton Hershey at the 1893 World’s Fair” will feature music, performers, period actors, and (of course) sweet treats as they celebrate how the Pennsylvania entrepreneur’s visit to the Columbian Exposition sparked a new business line in chocolates. In 1893, the World’s Fair in Chicago introduced Americans to innovations that would shape the modern world—among them, chocolate-making technology that would forever change Milton S. Hershey’s future. While attending the [...]
“Jackson Park was born over the furious objections of Chicagoans”
“Jackson Park was born over the furious objections of Chicagoans,” writes Chicago Sun-Times columnist Neil Steinberg [Full story: https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2026/06/12/obama-presidential-center-jackson-park-history-worlds-columbian-exposition-frederick-law-omsted] Prompted by the opening of the Obama Presidential Center, Steinberg reviews some of the controversies in the long history of Jackson Park, from its 1869 founding to its 1881 renaming to its 1890 selection as the fairgrounds for the World’s Columbian Exposition. Several private organizations have moved onto parkland since then, with the newest bring a fresh round of opposition and excitement. Changes to Frederick Law Olmsted’s South Side gem have always been accompanied by “much controversy and fanfare.” [Support [...]
Schlitz Brewery Pavilion at the 1893 World’s Fair
Last call for Schlitz beer! After 177 years, production of the iconic Milwaukee brew has come to an end. Founded in 1849, the Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company ceased operations in 1982, though since 1999 the Pabst Brewing Company continued produced the Schlitz brand. Schlitz beer received valuable attention at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago, as much for its handsome display as its beer. The Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company was one of twenty-two exhibitors in Group 12 (Malt Liquors) of the Agriculture Department and one of only two Cream City brewers—the other being Pabst Brewery—to display their product in [...]
185. Picturesque World’s Fair – Entrance to the French Section in the Manufactures Building
ENTRANCE TO THE FRENCH SECTION IN THE MANUFACTURES BUILDING.—In artistic and elaborate finish, the entrance to the French section in the Manufactures Building would compare favorably with the entrance to the pavilions of any of the great nations in that structure. There was a great porch, which was a semi-dome, supported by Corinthian columns, between which appeared mural paintings of a striking character. The general style of the architecture was a modified Corinthian, yet too ornate to be so classified. Upon either side of the entrance graceful caryatides served as supports. Beneath the semi-dome of the entrance appeared the [...]
184. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Statue of Benjamin Franklin
THE STATUE OF BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.— It was a natural idea and an appropriate one that the heroic statue of Benjamin Franklin should be the most conspicuous object in the main entrance to the Electricity Building. It was the first time in the history of expositions that a building had been devoted to a display of electrical inventions, and it seemed but right and proper that its approach should be overlooked by the statue of the great man who is associated in the popular mind quite as much with electrical discovery as by his great exploits in statesmanship during the [...]
Refurbishing the “Statue of the Republic”
The replica Statue of the Republic that stands in Jackson Park to commemorate the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition is getting a new coat. Writing in the Chicago Sun-Times on March 31, 2026, architectural critic Lee Bey reports that a $1 million restoration project will repair the sculpture, remove worn and flaking gold leaf, and apply a new layer of the micro-thin substance over the entire work (“Jackson Park’s 'Gold Lady' could look like a million again, thanks to a planned restoration") “The work still shines, but not like it once did,” Lee writes. Daniel Chester French’s Statue of the Republic became [...]
183. Picturesque World’s Fair – Main Structure and Dome of the Horticulture Building
MAIN STRUCTURE AND DOME OF THE HORTICULTURE BUILDING.—The admirable features of the Horticulture Building's architecture to be considered were lost to the eye of many for the double reason that its chief attractions were near the center and were to an extent lost in a view of the structure as a whole, and that the space between the Horticulture Building and the West Lagoon was but the width of a roadway and prevented the observer from going a sufficient distance away from the structure to perceive its idea in its entirety. Practically, the only proper point of appreciative observation [...]
A nightly scene of fairy-like loveliness: Illumination of the 1893 White City
Many of the most effusive and eloquent descriptions of the fairgrounds of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition focus on the nightly illumination. This electrical spectacle, augmented with flame torches and fireworks, dazzled visitors in Chicago’s Jackson Park. Some cried. Others thought they were glimpsing the heavenly beyond. The luminous poetry seemed like magic, but was actually cutting-edge science. Ponderous steam engines generating some 17,000 horse power drove great dynamos that created the electrical current feeding the 8,000 arc lamps and 130,000 incandescent bulbs that lit the grounds and buildings. The illumination so impressed a student visiting from North Carolina [...]
Apr. 11, 2026 – Feb. 26, 2028: “A Marvel in Motion” tells history of the Ferris Wheel (St. Louis)
The Ferris Wheel had its opening chapter at the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago and closing chapter at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis. The Missouri History Museum is honoring its enduring legacy with a new exhibit on the great observation wheel. “A Marvel in Motion” shares the history of George Ferris' mechanical monster that was an amusement as well as a bold example of innovation, ambition, and human ingenuity. Historical photographs, original engineering drawings, and artifacts will guide visitors through the challenges and triumphs of bringing this colossal structure to life. “A Marvel in Motion” occupies a [...]
Stephen Colbert presses the 1893 World’s Fair
While the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition is not common fodder for pundits and comedians on late-night TV shows, all that changed on the evening of March 11, 2026, when the host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert took on the great Chicago World’s Fair. The U.S. Mint struck its last circulating pennies back in November 2025. We noted the event with a little history about the premiere of elongated coin machines at the 1893 World’s Fair (and a low-tech approach even earlier). [See “Pennies Crushed as Souvenirs of the 1893 World’s Fair” https://worldsfairchicago1893.com/2025/11/14/pennies-crushed-as-souvenirs-of-the-1893-worlds-fair/] Mr. Colbert joined in the [...]