Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Did You Know?
The world's first Ferris wheel was built on Hyde Park's Midway during the
World's Columbian Exposition in 1893. It was eventually dynamited and
sold for scrap metal.
The University of Chicago is widely hailed as one of the more intellectually
exciting institutions of higher learning in the country and has been home to some
73 Nobel laureates. The year the university opened its doors, 1892, was a big one
for Hyde Park, but 1893 was even bigger. In that year, Chicago, chosen over other
cities in a competitive international field, hosted the World's Columbian Exposi-
tion, commemorating the 400th anniversary of Columbus's arrival in America.
To create a fairground, the landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted was
enlisted to fill in the marshlands along Hyde Park's lakefront and link what was
to become Jackson Park to existing Washington Park on the neighborhood's
western boundary with a narrow concourse called the Midway Plaisance. On the
resulting 650 acres—at a cost of $30 million—12 exhibit palaces, 57 buildings
devoted to U.S. states and foreign governments, and dozens of smaller structures
were constructed under the supervision of architect Daniel Burnham. Most of
the buildings followed Burnham's preference for the Classical Revival style and
exterior surfaces finished in white stucco. With the innovation of outdoor elec-
tric lighting, the sparkling result was the “White City,” which attracted 27 mil-
lion visitors in a single season, running from May 1 to October 31, 1893. The
exposition sponsors, in that brief time, had remarkably recovered their invest-
ment, but within a few short years of its closing, most of the fair's buildings were
destroyed by vandalism and fire. Only the Palace of Fine Arts, occupying the
eastern tip of the midway, survives to this day, and it now houses the Museum
of Science and Industry.
GETTING THERE
From the Loop, the ride to Hyde Park on the
no. 6 Jef-
frey Express bus
takes about 30 minutes. The bus originates on Wacker Drive,
travels south along State Street, and ultimately follows Lake Shore Drive to
Hyde Park. The bus runs from early morning to late evening 7 days a week, with
departures about every 5 minutes on weekdays and every 10 minutes on week-
ends and holidays. The southbound express bus adds a surcharge of 25¢ to the
normal fare of $1.75 (there's no surcharge if you use a CTA transit card). The
no. 1 local bus
originates at Union Station on Jackson Boulevard and Canal
Street and takes about an hour.
For a faster trip, take the
Metra Electric train
on the South Chicago line,
which goes from downtown to Hyde Park in about 15 minutes. Trains run every
hour (more frequently during rush hour) Monday through Saturday from
5:15am to 12:50am, and every 30 to 90 minutes on Sunday and holidays from
5am to 12:55am. Downtown stations are at Randolph Street and Michigan
Avenue, Van Buren Street and Michigan Avenue, and Roosevelt Road and
Michigan Avenue (near the Museum Campus in Grant Park). Printed schedules
are available at the stations. The fare is approximately $2 each way.
For CTA bus and Metra train information, call
&
836-7000
(from any city
or suburban area code).
For taxis, dial
&
312/TAXI-CAB
(312/829-4222) for
Yellow Cab
or
&
312/
CHECKER
(312/243-2537) for
Checker.
The one-way fare from downtown is
around $15.
