HD News - Summer 2023 - Volume 52 Number 3 - Innovation, Inspiration, Impact

Aug 20, 2026

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Explores how the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago reshaped Denver’s growth through innovation, ideas, and spectacle. Highlights the Fair’s Beaux-Arts Court of Honor, global pavilions, and mass public attendance, then connects key technological milestones—electric lighting, inventions, and commercial promotions—to lasting American cultural influence. Features the Edison-Tesla electricity contest and the Fair’s electrification moment, concluding with how specific outcomes helped determine what later generations experienced.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Innovation, Inspiration, Impact: How the 1893 World’s Fair Changed Denver

Innovation: 1893

Key inventions, inventions marketing, and lasting influence

From Our New President & CEO

EST. 19 7 0 • VOLUME 52 • NUMBER 3 • SUMMER 20 23 “The 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago astonished Americans from both crowded cities and small towns. They discovered not only grandiose architecture but also a breathtaking sense of perspective and space.” – Thomas J. Noel and Barbara S. Norgren, Denver The City Beautiful Denver’s Civic Center Park, c. 1940. Photo: Denver Public Library Special Collections, Z-2089 INNOVATION, INSPIRATION, IMPACT: HOW THE 1893 WORLD’S FAIR CHANGED DENVER by Stephanie McGuire, Curator of Collections, Jay Homstad, Development Manager, and Leah Charney, Historic Denver News Managing Editor The Chicago World’s Fair, also built along the shore of Lake the Fair’s end. known as the World’s Columbian Exposition, was Michigan with temporary structures torn down at Despite their impermanence, the Beaux-Arts architecture was awe-inspiring: Six enormous white buildings surrounding a pool of water made up the Court of Honor. Along the outskirts of the Fair were the State and Country Pavilions where 46 nations represented themselves through unique exhibits. Open for just six months, more than 27 million people attended the Fair, including the Brown family. The Fair was a spectacular show of the nation’s latest inventions and ideas, elevating certain businesses, people and brands, architectural styles, and changing the world —and Denver—as we know it today. INNOVATION: 1893 The Chicago World’s Fair took place at a time of industrial and technological explosion. It was one of the largest and most memorable marketing opportunities in history for inventors, artists, and businesses to be seen by millions. If you were lucky enough to have a presence on this global stage, your legacy just might still be around today. Who would electrify the Fair became a battle between two leading scientists, Thomas Edison and rival Nikola Tesla. Though Edison was known for his miraculous lightbulb that harnessed electricity to create artificial sunlight, Tesla shocked crowds a year before the Fair when he sent electric current through his own body safely, touching a wire which turned on a lightbulb in his other hand. Tesla’s bid won. His new alternating current (AC) generators, which transmitted power across a further distance than Edison’s direct current by using transformers, became the established power supply across the nation, and the United States’electricity is still predominantly powered by AC. On the Fair’s opening day, jaws dropped when President Grover Cleveland tapped a telegraph key and the electrical power turned on, illuminating the approximately 100,000 electric lights. Every building was outlined in white bulbs and giant searchlights swept across the grounds. Colored lights sparkled from the electric fountain. One reporter noted,“This is an age of wonders.” Today we experience some of the same physical innovations and products as visitors to the Fair witnessed for the first time over a century ago: electric sewing machines, moving sidewalks, which eventually wound up in airports, George Washington Ferris Jr.’s wheel, and food products like Pabst Blue Ribbon beer, Vienna Beef hot dogs, and Wrigley’s chewing gum. After H.J. Heinz, founder of Heinz condiments, scattered “claim your prize” tags around the first floor of the main exhibit hall to attract visitors, more than a million people came upstairs to claim a Heinz pickle pin. Though some of these inventions and products existed beforehand, the Fair provided an unprecedented opportunity for many to make a lasting impact and maintain a presence over the next one hundred and thirty years. If Tesla hadn’t won the bid, if Ferris wasn’t hired to build his wheel, if Heinz hadn’t attracted crowds with his pickle pin prize, those aspects of American culture would likely be absent. CONTINUED ON PAGE 3 Non Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Denver, CO Permit No. 756 Historic Denver, Inc . 1420 Ogden Street Denver, CO 8

FAQs

How did the 1893 World’s Fair create lasting influence beyond its six-month run?

The Fair offered an unprecedented opportunity for businesses, inventors, and public appeal, helping certain inventions, branding, and cultural elements persist for decades. Its outcomes shaped what later generations would experience over the following 130 years.

What was the Edison vs. Tesla conflict referenced in the article?

It describes a competition where Edison was known for the lightbulb and Tesla demonstrated alternating current power safely and effectively. Tesla’s bid won, and AC generators became the established national power supply.

What architectural and exhibit highlights characterized the Fair?

Six enormous white Beaux-Arts buildings formed the Court of Honor around a pool of water. State and Country Pavilions along the outskirts showcased unique exhibits representing 46 nations.

Aug 20, 2026

Upload by Eden