American engineer George Ferris reinvented the wheel 125 years ago
PEOPLE say that you shouldn’t try to reinvent the wheel, but that didn’t stop American engineer George Ferris from doing just that.
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PEOPLE often say “don’t try to reinvent the wheel,” but in 1893 an American engineer did just that. He invented a wheel that still bears his name. On this day, 125 years ago, people queued for hours to ride on the invention of George Washington Gale Ferris, the world’s first ferris wheel.
It became the centrepiece of the Columbian Exposition, a world’s fair held in Chicago, Illinois, a demonstration of America’s engineering genius meant to rival the Eiffel Tower. Standing 80.4m tall, with 36 cars capable of holding over 2000 people, it proved to be a big hit, drawing tens of thousands of people every day and saving the Exposition organisers from a financial disaster. It also inspired other cities around the world to build their own wheels, some of which have become great landmarks.
The inventor who sent the world on this joy ride was born George Washington Gale Ferris Jr in Galesberg, Illinois in 1859. He was named after his father George Washington Gale Ferris Sr, who was named after George Washington Gale, founder of Knox College and the town of Galesberg. Ferris’s father was a farmer who later moved his family to Carson City, Nevada, where he became a horticulturalist responsible for the landscaping of the city.
Something of a daydreamer, Ferris spent his days on the family farm studying mechanical devices, bridges and waterwheels. To teach him discipline, his father sent him to a military academy in California, from which he graduated in 1876. He then enrolled to study at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, graduating in 1881 with a degree in civil engineering.
With his engineering qualification he began working on railroad and mining projects, building bridges and tunnels.
In 1886 he established his own company G.W.G. Ferris & Co, Inspecting Engineers, but in 1890 he also founded Ferris, Kaufman and Company to work on engineering projects. He became one of the foremost experts in projects involving structural steel.
That year the architect in charge of transforming a stretch of land in Chicago into the showplace of the Columbian Exposition, Daniel Burnham, put out the call for engineers to design something for the world’s fair that would show up French engineer Gustave Eiffel’s 300m high steel structure towering over Paris. Burnham’s major directive was “make no little plans”.
Many of the proposals were for towers higher than the Eiffel Tower, including one from Eiffel himself, but they were all rejected as unoriginal.
But when Ferris showed Burnham his idea of a giant steel wheel he was initially unconvinced, thinking it was too fragile. It was also not an entirely new idea, there were 15m tall wooden wheels created by William Somers at amusement parks in New Jersey and New York called a “roundabout.” But Ferris’s design for a wheel was for a much bigger, device made of steel.
He spent thousands of dollars of his own money to prove that the wheel would be safe. In December 1892 his design was chosen.
Ferris was racing the clock, the exposition was due to open in May 1893. Fortunately he had an intimate knowledge of which steel mills would be able to provide him with the components for his giant wheel.
Work began in late December; dynamite was needed to blast through the frozen ground for the foundations. By March the concrete plinth had been laid and the towers that would hold the wheel were standing.
Powered by steam, the wheel passed its first test runs early in June with flying colours and was ready for its opening on June 21. It was an immediate success, and won back crowds who had been lured away by Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show, which had opened nearby to take advantage of the crowds.
But Ferris and his machine didn’t have it all their way. He had to fight off a patent suit by Somers who claimed to be the real inventor of the joy ride. Ferris also had to fight for his share of the profits after his wheel raked in far more money than expected.
After the Exposition ended in October 1893 the wheel stayed open until April after which it was dismantled and stored until it was resurrected in Lincoln Park in Chicago. It was later dismantled again and taken to St Louis for the 1904 World’s Fair.
Ferris died in 1896 of typhoid fever, but his invention inspired imitators big and small around the globe. In recent years cities have been vying to outdo each other with ever more impressive and larger wheels.
SOME OF THE WORLD’S BEST WHEELS
Oldest: The Wiener Riesenrad (Viennese Giant Wheel) built in 1897 is the oldest ferris wheel in the world still operating. It was scheduled for demolition in 1916 but was left standing due to lack of funds for its demolition. It was made famous in the film The Third Man.
Biggest: The High Roller in Las Vegas, Nevada, holds the record for the tallest ferris wheel at 167.6m.
Australia’s biggest: The Melbourne Star is the biggest ferris wheel in Australia, and seventh- tallest in the world, standing an impressive 120m tall.
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