Ferris Wheel

The original Ferris Wheel, sometimes also referred to as the Chicago Wheel, was designed and built by George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. as the centerpiece of the Midway at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois. Since its construction, many other Ferris wheels have been constructed that were patterned after it. Intended as keystone attraction similar to that of the 1889 Paris Exposition's Eiffel Tower, the Ferris Wheel was the Columbian Exposition's tallest attraction, with a height of . The Ferris Wheel was dismantled and then rebuilt in Lincoln Park, Chicago, in 1895, and dismantled and rebuilt a third and final time for the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. It was ultimately demolished in 1906. In 2007, the wheel's 45 foot, 70-ton axle was discovered buried near where it was demolished. Design and construction The Ferris Wheel was designed and constructed by George Washington Gale Ferris Jr., a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania bridge-builder. Ferris began his career in the railroad industry before pursuing an interest in bridge building. He understood the growing need for structural steel and founded G.W.G. Ferris & Co. in Pittsburgh, a firm that tested and inspected metals for railroads and bridge builders.