![]() When the White City finally rises, it's comprised of a hundred magnificent neo-classical buildings, a tribute to architects of ancient wonders. The exposition committee takes forever to decide where they want to even put the fair, no engineer steps forward with any plans to out-Eiffel Eiffel's Tower, and Burnham is running out of time before Opening Day celebrations.īut Burnham and his dream-team of architects work tirelessly to transform vision into reality. Many of the nation's leading architects aren't convinced they want to devote so much time and effort to structures that are going to be demolished after their six-month use. When Chicago wins the bid for the fair in 1890, the city faces the immense challenge of surpassing the wonders of the Paris Exposition of 1889, the same event that had produced the colossal Eiffel Tower. World's Fair One-Upmanshipīack at the fairgrounds, Burnham's quest to create the iconic White City is not an easy one. (This guy is seriously bad news.) Letters from worried family members begin to arrive, but not a single person suspects Holmes of foul play. His next victims are Emeline Cigrand, Minnie Williams, and her sister Anna. Holmes seduces Julia Connor, who divorces her husband for the handsome doctor, but he soon kills Julia and her daughter Pearl. He makes his new wife live somewhere else when she becomes jealous of the attention he receives from other women. Holmes marries Myrta Belknap, though he's already married to a Miss Clara Lovering. Holmes' hotel is an Airbnb for exposition visitors-oh, except some of his female guests begin to go missing. While wonderful things are happening at the fair, darkness looms outside. If that's not spooky enough, Holmes would later claim that he was born with the devil inside him.Īnd the events that occur over the six years that Holmes is in Chicago just about make that claim legit. Pipes pump gas into rooms with no windows, a kiln large enough for a person sits down in the garage, and an airtight vault is installed in Holmes' private office. He purchases a plot of land on Sixty-third and Wallace and creates a hotel, a massive three-story structure that the neighbors called Holmes' "castle."īut inside, it's the place of terrors. A hit among the ladies, Holmes is suave and charming. A Creepier Castle Than Dracula'sĪt the same time, a young, rich, and handsome doctor going by the name H. Anthony, Thomas Edison, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, Nikola Tesla, and Theodore Roosevelt-to name a few. Never before are so many famous people been gathered in one place: Buffalo Bill, Susan B. Visitors experience things for the first time, from lightbulbs to Cracker Jacks, and whole villages are imported from exotic parts of the world. Intended to celebrate the four hundredth anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America, the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition sees twenty-seven million visitors during a time when the nation's population is only sixty-five million. Yet for now, Burnham's thinking back to that magical time on the eve of the Great Fair. Burnham's the guy who designed the fair buildings and his friend Francis Millet filled them with all sorts of cool exhibitions.īut, whoops-Millet booked passage on the Titanic (We're guessing you've heard of it.) Burnham will later learn that his friend drowns along with a thousand others. ![]() Burnham and his friend were brought together by the most spectacular event ever in the history of America: the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Famous guy Daniel Hudson Burnham has just learned that a ship carrying his friend has struck an iceberg somewhere in the Atlantic. īut before the creeptastic stuff starts happening, we get a little historical background. Because this book is much less The Secret Garden and much more The Silence of the Lambs. Get ready to have all your daydreams about living in the late Victorian Era (the clop-clop of horse carriages! Snazzy mustaches! Adorable gramophone music!) dashed to absolute smithereens. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America Summary Who Wants To Time Travel Back To 1893? (Answer: Nobody Who's Read This Book.)
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