(Our fair hero *pun!* has his ‘Ferris Wheel’ design accepted and gets to work on actually creating his dream machine.)
George Washington Ferris’ challenges could not have been more daunting. In addition to being in debt due to the mounds of cash he had spent getting the design off the ground ( another pun!), Ferris was awarded this contract in mid-December of 1892. (The board had taken its sweet time deciding on a winning design as the original call went out in late 1891.) Let me reiterate the obvious: December. Chicago. Five months before the May 1, 1893 opening. Did I mention that Ferris was told by the board that he would have to find his own financing as they were over budget? With the incredible cold, unbelievable lack of funding and the even more absurd timeline, Ferris began his challenge.
Ferris pieced out the manufacturing of the wheel’s parts, with a large chunk being created in the steel mills of Detroit. The foundation for the 25 story wheel was being dug and the cement being poured in negative 10 degree weather. But, despite the Quixotic endeavor, parts of the wheel began arriving on trains from around the US and were assembled on site.
Does he get the Ferris Wheel up and running for opening day of the 1893 World’s Fair? Stay tuned.
Want to take a wild ride that won’t give you motion sickness? Book a tour.
Ball, Dennis. “The Man Who Invented the Wheel and Paid the Price.” Ancestry.com. Accessed July 18, 2017. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wanda/ferriswheel.html.
Malanowski, Jamie. “The Brief History of the Ferris Wheel.” Smithsonian.com. June 01, 2015. Accessed July 18, 2017. http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/history-ferris-wheel-180955300/.
