Chicago Day, October 9, 1893, at the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois.

Chicago Day commemorated the 22nd anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 at the World's Columbian Exposition.

Unused Adult Chicago Day Ticket.

Extensive planning was needed for this special day. Train fares to Chicago were reduced. Major companies bought thousands of complimentary tickets for their employees. Most businesses closed for the day so their workers could take their families to the Fair.

Illinois Central Van Buren Terminal on Chicago Day.

The Cottage Grove Streetcar Station.

Officials had known pickpockets arrested to boost public confidence. The tremendous crowds, fabulous parades, special ceremonies, and breathtaking fireworks all helped make Chicago Day the greatest day of the Columbian Exposition and one of the proudest days for the city of Chicago.

The Grand Plaza in front of the Administration Building on Chicago Day.

Massive Crowds Gather to Hear the Chicago Day Speeches.

Mass Crowds on Chicago Day. The Palace of Fine Arts is in the Background.

Chicago Day was the most attended of any day in its 6-month operation and was the largest single day attendance of any World's Fair up to that time. The final tally including paid admissions and free passes was 761,942 attendees which included staff and exhibitors. The largest attendance day up to this point at the World's Fair was 283,273 on the 4th of July. The Exposition Universelle of 1889 held in Paris France, the prior World's Fair, roughly 397,000 was their highest day of attendance.

Despite the Panic of 1893, a worldwide depression, the Fair profited $1 million dollars.

ACTUAL FILM FOOTAGE

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This amazing footage of the Ferris Wheel running in 1896 at Ferris Wheel Park, Clark, and Wrightwood in Lincoln Park, Chicago. The vantage point here is looking from the southwest corner of Wrightwood, northeast across Clark Street. Filmed by the Lumiere Brothers and is one of the first films ever shot in Chicago.

READ: Ferris Wheel Park at 1288 North Clark Street in Chicago, Illinois. (1896-1903)

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The admission to the Fair costs 50¢ for adults and 25¢ for children.
Tickets sold per ticket office on October 9th:

The ninety-five ticket sellers had been too busy all day to accurately report their numbers of sold tickets. The men at the gates had the same situation with no time to report how many people actually entered the Fair. At 5 o’clock Superintendent Tucker dispatched dozens of mounted inspectors and they brought back the following returns from the ticket offices:

Alley 'L' Station, 75,000
Baltimore and Ohio railroad (sold on trains), 1,750
Cornell Avenue, 21,000
Cottage Grove (west end of Midway), 75,000
Fifty-Ninth Street, 10,400
Fifty-Ninth Street (Midway), 12,500
Fifty-Seventh Street, 62,850
Madison Avenue south, 18,000
Madison Street north, 15,146
Sixtieth and Illinois Central platform, 32,800
Sixtieth Street, 23,000
Sixty-Fourth Street, 78,200
Sixty-Second Street, 31,000
Terminal Station, 38,500
Thirty-Ninth and Fortieth streets (new offices opened for Chicago Day), 40,000
Van Buren Street, 41,000
Woodlawn North, 10,000
Woodlawn South, 7,500
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TOTAL: 593,646

Advance sales estimated at: 120,000
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GRAND TOTAL: 713,646

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Chicago Day Broadside (advertising poster).

Chicago Day Official Souvenir Programme.

Chicago Day Edition of the Inter Ocean Newspaper.

The Chicago Daily Tribune, October 10, 1893 - The Day After Closing.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

Lost Towns of Illinois – The Cass and Lace Communities.

Thomas Andrus and his wife, Melissa, were the first to arrive in what would become Darien.  They traveled from Vermont by boat through the Great Lakes to Chicago and came here in horse drawn wagons. The Andrus farm was on the west side of present-day Lemont Road and the I55 North Frontage Road. Once an Indian Trail, the North Frontage Road was the route of the Frink & Walker’s General Stage Coach line between Chicago and Ottawa.

The Stagecoach wasn't as glamorous as the movies made them out to be.

The Andrus farm house served as an inn for stagecoach travelers. Thomas also kept horses for the stagecoach line. The families of brothers, William and Elisha Smart, and John Oldfield joined the Andrus family in establishing the community of Cass.

The Andrus Farm.

The Lace community grew north of the Cass community. It was centered at the intersection of present-day Cass Avenue and 75th Street. Among the first families of Lace, were the Andermanns and the Buschmanns who had emigrated from Germany. Joining these families in Lace were the Wehrmeisters and Warkentiens.

Bordered by Plainfield Road, Cass Avenue, and 75th Street, “The Point,” was the center of community life in Lace. “The Point” included a general store and blacksmith shop, St. John Lutheran School, and the church parsonage. Directly east of "The Point" stood Conrad Buschmann's creamery where farmers brought their milk to be processed into dairy products. Just north of "The Point" was Lace Hall where dances were held.

Both Cass and Lace established churches that served as the anchor of not only religious life, but social life as well. The Cass community established the Cass Methodist Episcopal Church that no longer exits. The Lace community established the St. John Lutheran Church.  The Cass cemetery and the St. John Lutheran Church cemetery each contain the graves of the first families and also include the graves of Civil War veterans. Both Cass and Lace established their own schools. The first Lace School was built in 1856. It burned and was replaced with the second Lace School built in 1925. Today, the 1925 building is known as Old Lace Schoolhouse and Museum and is the home of the Darien Historical Society. It stands at its original location, the northwest corner of the intersection of 75th Street and Cass Avenue.

The Old Lace School.

Martin Barnaby Madden's family emigrated to Lemont from England in 1869. A barge accident on the Illinois and Michigan Canal led to him being employed at the Western Stone Company. He rose to become its president. Madden married Josephine Smart, the daughter of Elisha Smart. In 1903, Madden built a summer home on the Smart family property. His home, which he called Castle Eden, was built to be a replica of the White House in Washington, DC. but at 1/10th scale model. Madden had an illustrious political career culminating in his election to the United States House of Representatives where he served from 1905 until his death in 1928. When route 66 was built, there was easy access to Castle Eden.

The White House - It was converted into a restaurant about 1938 until 1942 named Castle Eden on Route 66.

Cass and Lace were close knit farming communities. People living here grew up, married, raised their children, and lived out their days in familiar surroundings, embraced and supported by their extended families. The late 1940s, following the end of World War II, saw an increase in the affordability of automobiles and better roads. Better transportation led to people moving out of Chicago and the establishment of suburbs.  

Fields of wild asparagus were paved over and orchards were felled as farmers sold their land to developers and subdivisions began to emerge where farmers had once raised crops and livestock. As the population increased, the need for increased services such as police and fire protection became apparent. Deciding that these concerns could best be addressed by becoming a city, four subdivisions, Marion Hills, Hinsbrook, Brookhaven, and Clarefield, formed the “Combined Homeowners Committee for Incorporation.” In order for the issue to be voted on by the residents, the proposed city had to have a name. A member of the committee, Sam Kelley, having recently enjoyed a visit to Darien, Connecticut, suggested the name Darien. The vote on incorporation was held on December 13, 1969. It passed by less than 50 votes.

By The Darien Historical Society.
Edited by Neil Gale, Ph.D.