Start at Cornell Drive and 57th Street

Behind this spot to the west was the California Building.

When the sidewalk bends to the left around the lagoon, follow it.

Lagoons--Naphtha launches

The "Columbia Basin" behind the Museum of Science and Industry is an official fishing area stocked by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Fishing is technically illegal in the other lagoons, but there are no signs posted in the wildlife areas.

Marine Cafe, next to the Merchant Tailors' Building.

This bridge wasn't here during the exposition

Once there was a boathouse on the lagoons and they were busy with rowboats and a few motorized launches for tourists..It was directly south of the MSI

At the time of the Fair there were four bridges onto the island, soon after, only two. The whole shape of the lagoons was reconfigured.

Fisheries Building on the lagoon

To the west and toward the Women's building

Horticulture Building

The Horticulture Building was enormous--containing five acres in its greenhouses--including palms, bamboo, and a waterfall in the center.

Friend Williams, "In a small outside building, we found a nice display of gloxinias. Under the immense dome of the main building was a conical shaped mass of foliaged plants, ...under this mass there was a Crystal Cave, lined throughout with cristal formations taken froma cave in South Dakota. Some noticeable things in this building were the immense tree ferns, orchids growing naturally on a tree trunk, tall large cactus, begonias, a huge lawn mower, German wine exhibit, paintings of the Rhine Valley, California organe tower containing 13, 873 oranges, cans of large nice peaches, pears, plums, and grapes. In the court was an oragne grove, I noticed a few oranges on the trees."(3)

The California Orange Tower was 35 feet high and surmounted by an eagle with outstretched wings. The 14,000 oranges were replaced every 3 to 4 weeks.

Later, in the reconfigured lagoons, there was a boathouse about here, in the Prairie School style. In 1910, a tour of the lagoon cost 10 cents. (2)

In 1893, this was the location of the Transportation Building, designed by Dankmar Adler and Louis Sullivan in defiance of the classical whiteness of the White City. It was painted over 30 shades of red, orange, and yellow and picked up ornamentation from Byzantine and Islamic sources.(2) It was perhaps most famous for the golden door--perhaps designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, who was still working for Adler and Sullivan.

Friend Williams, "This, unlike the other buildings had its decoratiosn on the outside done in various shades of red, and was very pretty in contrast with the others. The Main Entrance which had a greenish silvery apperance was magnificent."(3) warships, "Mexican National R. R. had an interesting exhibit. It consisted mainly of the equipments of the Mexican horsement, especially some finely embroidered saddles." A relief map of Pullman, a miniature tempe of Edfou, a copper plate from which a large map fo teh U S could e printed were exhibited. Locomotives, reproduction of rooms on a steampship, steam hammer, more cannons.

Japanese Gardens

I've made a whole separate tour of the Osaka Japanese Garden (all cribbed from the web!) But one thing to look at is one of the few survivors of the Fair, the lantern.

Rose Garden--lush and in June the winding paths among the roses were jammed with people.

The roses were gone by the late 1950s but the enclosure had electricity and there was a set of rest rooms nearby, so this was the location for parties, including gatherings of the Hyde Park Kenwood Community Conference.

Nature Preserve, controlled burn

Bobolink Meadow--had hidden gates into the meadow when it was a true preserve and included the driving range. People fought to have teh driving range down by the golf courses by the first hole and to preserve teh meadow but lost. Now the bobolinks are gone, a road of some sort is being gouged right through it, and the Park District has made the great discovery that the driving range should be by the first hole. The fight was lost in 1982.

There were no paths in it and you could lost in the tall prairie grasses. And there really were bobolinks. The remnants of the original hidden gate is still there. It had been Army base until 1971, and so had become wild and safe and off limits.

In this grove of trees and original burr oaks on the island.

Somewhere around here on the south end of Wooded Island, there once stood the Cahokia Courthouse, the oldest public building in the Mississippi Valley, built in 1716 in Cahokia Illinois. It was moved from Cahokia to the Louisiana Purchase expo in St. Louis in 1904 then moved up to Jackson Park. It was built of squared walnut logs and wooden pins. Ini 1939, it was moved back to Cahokia.(2)

Peaceful where once were huge buildings--and a much bigger bridge.

Approximately on the left once across the bridge was the Electricity Building--Friend Williams "The interior is brilliantly illuminated, making it an excellent place to come in the evening, and also because the illumnation was the chief thing to see. Electric lamps in a great variety of sizes, shapes, cololrs, and arranged in al sorts of ways, were present on all sides. A picture of "Columbus outlined by lights, adorned a large space on one of the walls. A tall column in the center of the building was a pleasing sight, and showed much skill and ingenuity in arranging lights. Around its sides curved lines of light of many collors oscillated to and ro and in many ways, kept time with the orchestra which played in the gallery. A tower up which a ball of light went at intervals and branched off on lightning shaped arms 'til it reached a revolving ball, which changed colors as it revolved, was anothe rfreak sight.(3) He also liked Nikola Tesla's high voltage display "artificial lightning...attracted considerable attention"(3)

63rd Street entrance to the fair, Wild West show, parking lot. El tracks.

Where the replica of the golden lady is now was once the location of the Administration building. It rose up high in the Court of Honor and at the end of the Grand Basin. Inside, visitors could look straight up at the dome covered with frescos. The dome, as the Century book pointed out, was higher than St. Peter's in Rome. The Administration Building was the centerpiece of the Court of Honor. It was designed by Robert Hunt and had a high gilded dome that could be seen from out on the Lake and from much of the White City with the light glinting off of it.(2) Friend Williams told his teacher, "The Administration Building is very artistic and beautiful. It has an immense dome. A person standing in under it, looking high above at the interior decorations and pictures, is very apt to appreciate its immensity by having his neck strained in gazing over its whole surface. Under it, is a facsimile of the Treasury Building in Washington made of Columbian half-dollars." (3) Western Union had an office in the building so people could let their friends know they were there.

A statue on the Administration Building--all of staff. This one is the "glorification of war"

Walk east toward the "golden lady"--the replica statue commemorating the Columbian Exposition. It now faces out toward the lake. During the Fair it was out in the water facing west toward the land. It was also much taller.

If went south through the park, hit the golf course--opened in 1899, the first west of the Alleghenies. Once there were two--a 9 hole and an 18 hole.

The Animal Bridge--once known as the Intake Bridge. It was opened in 1903. It spans the harbor and lagoon. It is steel-reinforced concrete, decorated with limestone and granite, with carvings of hippopotamus heads and water deities. It was restored in 2002-2003.(2)

The south edge of the Fair held the Krupp's Building--an opportunity for the Kaiser to show off the largest gun ever cast and other demonstrations of German technology. Of course it was just the thing to interest Friend Williams, who rattled off hsi admiration of the largest gun ever cast and the demonstration of how well shells could dent and penetrate thick steel plating from a war ship.