Wooded Island Archives - Chicago's 1893 Worlds Fair

Autumn on the Wooded Island in Jackson Park
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Autumn on the Wooded Island in Jackson Park

REPRINTS

Autumn on the Wooded Island in Jackson Park

"An Autumn Scene on Wooded Island" [Image from the Chicago Inter Ocean Sep. 30, 1893; digitally colored.] “Once a barren strip of sand protesting against the surrounding marshes,” the Wooded Island emerged “like a magnificent Turkish rug, rich with varied dyes, flung down upon a crystal floor,” wrote Shepp’s World’s Fair Photographed. “A profusion of flowers of every shade and hue gems the sod; groves of trees and masses of shrubbery lend further charm by the dark green [...]

By Scott|2024-09-22T10:19:33-05:00September 22nd, 2024|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Hunter's Cabin, rose garden, Wooded Island|0 Comments

161. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Golden Door, from the Wooded Island
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161. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Golden Door, from the Wooded Island

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161. Picturesque World’s Fair – The Golden Door, from the Wooded Island

THE GOLDEN DOOR, FROM THE WOODED ISLAND.— Among the great number of photographs, taken from different points of view, of the famous "Golden Door" it is doubtful if any surpassed in charming effect that from which the accompanying illustration is taken. The point afforded on the Wooded Island seems to have been at just the right distance from the Transportation Building and in just the right direction to allow of an absolute presentation of detail, while, at the same [...]

By Randy|2024-03-09T11:12:45-06:00February 18th, 2024|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Adler & Sullivan, Louis Sullivan, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Transportation Building, Wooded Island|0 Comments

The Fair as a Spectacle, Part 2: In Search of the Picturesque
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The Fair as a Spectacle, Part 2: In Search of the Picturesque

REPRINTS

The Fair as a Spectacle, Part 2: In Search of the Picturesque

Continued from Part 1 [Note: This text includes names and descriptions now considered culturally disparaging. Please see our statement on “Potentially Offensive Text and Images.”] THE FAIR AS A SPECTACLE. How it seemed to a visitor—Strolling and dreaming by day and by night. By Charles Mulford Robinson Part 2: In Search of the Picturesque But in that brief view a lesson was also taught you which you took to heart at once. It was that the charm of the [...]

By Scott|2023-07-02T13:10:12-05:00July 1st, 2023|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Charles Mulford Robinson, Christopher Columbus (statue by Lawrence), Columbian Guard, Court of Honor, Golden Door, gondolas, Ho-o-den, Japanese Tea House, MacMonnies Fountain, Palace of Fine Arts, rolling chairs, Transportation Building, Woman's Building, Wooded Island|1 Comment

145. Picturesque World’s Fair – West Main Entrance of the Manufactures Building
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145. Picturesque World’s Fair – West Main Entrance of the Manufactures Building

REPRINTS

145. Picturesque World’s Fair – West Main Entrance of the Manufactures Building

WEST MAIN ENTRANCE OF THE MANUFACTURES BUILDING.—Columbia Avenue, the great thoroughfare which extended north and south through the Manufactures Building, was crossed at the center by a similar broad way, and. this interior street where it terminated at the west afforded exit upon a particularly beautiful scene. Across the North Canal and at the entrance to the East Lagoon a bridge extended, over which passed and repassed the throng between the Manufactures and the group of large structures west [...]

By Randy|2022-11-13T09:03:45-06:00November 13th, 2022|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: colonnade, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, Obelisk, PICTURESQUE WORLD’S FAIR, Wooded Island|0 Comments

137. Picturesque World’s Fair – North and West from the Government Building
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137. Picturesque World’s Fair – North and West from the Government Building

REPRINTS

137. Picturesque World’s Fair – North and West from the Government Building

NORTH AND WEST FROM THE GOVERNMENT BUILDING.—From the dome of the Government Building the prospect north and west afforded as much variety as could be had from any point of observation of the Fair Grounds, since in other directions the view was either much shorter or was cut off by the huge department structures. The illustration shows the Fisheries in the foreground, the details of the south façade of the main building outlined very clearly at such short distance. [...]

“Halcyon Days in the Dream City’’ Part 14: A Dream
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“Halcyon Days in the Dream City’’ Part 14: A Dream

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“Halcyon Days in the Dream City’’ Part 14: A Dream

Halcyon Days in the Dream City by Mrs. D. C. Taylor Continued from Part 13 We dreamed that we sat upon the sands of the lake shore, and that all about us, unnumbered as these sands, sat and stood a great multitude; thousands upon thousands of people, men, women, and children, from the babe in arms to the maiden and stripling, high and low, rich and poor, all crowding together, all were equal, and over all a great hush [...]

By Scott|2021-04-02T11:21:11-05:00November 25th, 2020|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: fireworks, Wooded Island|1 Comment

Chicago00 Launches 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition VR Web Portal
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Chicago00 Launches 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition VR Web Portal

NEWS

Chicago00 Launches 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition VR Web Portal

Grab your Columbian Exposition return pass and head back to the 1893 World’s Fair virtually with the Chicago 00 Project, which has launched their 1893 World's Columbian Exposition VR web portal at https://1893.chicago00.org/. A partnership between the Chicago History Museum and filmmaker Geoffrey Alan Rhodes, the Chicago 00 Project has been producing a series of interactive multimedia experiences using historical images of important sites and events in Chicago. Their augmented reality app allows participant to overlay historic photos with [...]

By Scott|2020-06-29T10:42:24-05:00June 29th, 2020|Categories: NEWS|Tags: Chicago History Museum, Ferris Wheel, gondolas, Grand Basin, Horticultural Building, Jackson Park, Java Village, Lapland Village, Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building, Midway Plaisance, Sitting Bull's Cabin, Wooded Island|0 Comments

THE CITY OF WONDERS: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair (Chapter 13)
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THE CITY OF WONDERS: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair (Chapter 13)

REPRINTS

THE CITY OF WONDERS: A Souvenir of the World’s Fair (Chapter 13)

THE CITY OF WONDERS A SOUVENIR OF THE WORLD'S FAIR by Mary Catherine Crowley (1894)

By Scott|2024-09-22T10:10:23-05:00January 3rd, 2020|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Administration Building, Children's Building, Court of Honor, gondolas, Ho-o-den, Horticultural Building, illumination, Lake Michigan, Queen Victoria, rose garden, Woman's Building, Wooded Island|1 Comment

The (Im)Perfection of Rude Simplicity: Davy Crockett’s Descendant Visits the Hunter’s Cabin at the 1893 World’s Fair
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The (Im)Perfection of Rude Simplicity: Davy Crockett’s Descendant Visits the Hunter’s Cabin at the 1893 World’s Fair

REPRINTS

The (Im)Perfection of Rude Simplicity: Davy Crockett’s Descendant Visits the Hunter’s Cabin at the 1893 World’s Fair

Many visitors to the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago on June 9, 1893, were eagerly trying to spot the Infanta Eulalia, the visiting Princess from Spain, as she toured the White City and Midway Plaisance. Meanwhile, just off the south end of the Wooded Island, a direct descendant of the legendary pioneer Davy Crockett (August 17, 1786 – March 6, 1836) visited the quaint Hunter’s Cabin. Sponsored by Theodore Roosevelt and his Boone and Crockett Foundation and designed by prolific [...]

By Scott|2019-07-31T15:36:39-05:00August 17th, 2019|Categories: REPRINTS|Tags: Charles Atwood, Davy Crockett, Hunter's Cabin, Princess Eulalia, Theodore Roosevelt, Wooded Island|0 Comments

Spring 2019 Trivia Question
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Spring 2019 Trivia Question

TRIVIA

Spring 2019 Trivia Question

Our quarterly newsletter includes a “Palmer Puzzler” exclusive to those who subscribe. (You can sign up here.) The first person to send us the correct answer wins a small prize. The Spring 2019 Trivia Question In the image above can be seen the Wooded Island, spread out below the balloon. Just out the frame to the left (south) would have been a small log cabin, erected by future U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt as a museum and memorial to honor [...]

By Scott|2024-05-29T14:20:35-05:00March 22nd, 2019|Categories: TRIVIA|Tags: Charles Atwood, Daniel Boone, Davy Crockett, Hunter's Cabin, Theodore Roosevelt, Wooded Island|0 Comments