Navy Pier | Timeline
The Way Through

The Illinois & Michigan Canal is completed, connecting the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River via the Chicago River. Over the next few decades, this new trade route attracts a shipping industry that will transform Chicago from a sleepy frontier town into a booming metropolis.
1848
Photo Credit: Public Domain
River Boom

Thanks to the I&M Canal, the Chicago River grows into one of the busiest ports in the world. Chicago attracts more grain and lumber ships than New York, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Baltimore combined. Congestion on the river becomes increasingly challenging. Shown here is Wolf Point circa 1885.
1850-1910
Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum
The Steamer Era

Passenger steamliners such as the S.S. Christopher Columbus become a common sight on Lake Michigan, taking Chicagoans to Michigan and Wisconsin. They pick up passengers at stops along the Chicago River, adding to the congestion.
1890s
Photo Credit: chuckmanchicagonostalgia.wordpress.com
No Small Plans

The Plan of Chicago (also known as the Burnham Plan after its mastermind, Daniel Burnham) sets forth a comprehensive vision for the city’s infrastructure and calls for the construction of several Piers.
1909
Photo Credit: Public Domain
Traffic Jam

Congestion on the Chicago River continues, underscoring the need for a lakefront Pier.
1912
Photo Credit: Public Domain via ChicagoPostcardMuseum.org
Construction Begins

Municipal Pier is constructed atop 20,000 timber logs imported from Oregon.
1914
Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum
The Pier Debuts

Municipal Pier is completed at a cost of $4.5 million. It stretches 3,300 feet (about 5/8 mile) into Lake Michigan, with a head house greeting visitors on the west end, the Grand Ballroom ready to host special events on the east end, and two long freight sheds spanning the distance between.
1916
Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum
Unparalleled Pier

The Pier serves as both a shipping depot and a place for Chicagoans to relax. The Chicago Tribune declares: “No city in the world has any structure on a water front that compares with the new Municipal Pier.”
1916
Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum
World War I

In April 1917, the U.S. declares war on Germany, and the Pier steps up. Within one month, a military recruitment center opens on Municipal Pier. Soon, the Pier houses multiple military uses including barracks, a Red Cross training center, and even a jail for draft dodgers. Shown here: members of the U.S. Army’s Third Reserve Engineer Division.
1917
Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum
Pageant of Progress

Municipal Pier hosts the first of two Pageants of Progress – a huge expo that draws hundreds of thousands of people for exhibitions and entertainments including mock pirate attacks, sky-diving exhibitions, speedboat races, and a boxing exhibition by Jack Dempsey.
1921
Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum
The Car vs. The Pier

As the automobile becomes a preferred mode of passenger travel, the Pier’s passenger business wanes. Cargo ship traffic continues, though railroads now divert some freight business.
1920s
Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum
The Voice of Labor

The first radio station in the world owned and operated by organized labor begins broadcasting from Municipal Pier. WCFL’s call letters stand for the Chicago Federation of Labor; its motto is “The Voice of Labor.”
1926
Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum
A Fitting New Name

Municipal Pier is renamed Navy Pier to honor those who served in World War I. The new name will prove prescient, as the Pier will play a major role in preparing service members during World War II.
1927
Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum
Trade Show Golden Age

The Pier hosts a variety of events and expos such as the Automotive Services Industry Show, the National Motor Truck Show, and the Flower and Garden Show.
1930s
Photo Credit: Public Domain via ChicagoPostcardMuseum.org
A Century of Progress

Navy Pier offers spectacular views of the 1933 World’s Fair, which is taking place on the lakefront just south of the Pier. Themed “A Century of Progress,” the Fair celebrates the centennial anniversary of Chicago’s incorporation.
1933
Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum
Fascist Friends

Visitors to Navy Pier are treated to a sensational sight: a phalanx of 24 silver seaplanes flying in formation. Having flown all the way from Rome, they are visiting Chicago in honor of the 1933 World’s Fair.
The leader of the group is Italo Balbo, a member of Italy’s Fascist regime. He is greeted as a hero, labeled the next Charles Lindbergh, and compared to Christopher Columbus; Chicago’s 7th Street is renamed for him.
1933
Photo Credit: Library of Congress
World War II

In urgent response to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, two passenger steamers are converted into makeshift aircraft carriers for training operations on Lake Michigan. More than 15,000 Naval aviators, including future President George H.W. Bush, receive training here. About 100 planes sink in Lake Michigan (and are still being recovered today). Shown is the steamer SeaandBee, once the largest inland passenger carrier, before and after its transformation into the training carrier USS Wolverine.
1943
Photo Credit: Public Domain via Wikipedia Commons
College Days

The Navy moves out, and the University of Illinois opens a branch at the Pier. Over 4,000 students enroll at University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), including many returning World War II service members taking advantage of the GI Bill.
1946
Photo Credit: chuckmanchicagonostalgia.wordpress.com
Fading Glory

Navy Pier continues to receive cargo ships and host trade shows, while its infrastructure begins to show wear. Students at UIC complain of cold breezes in their makeshift classrooms.
1951
Photo Credit: chuckmanchicagonostalgia.wordpress.com
A Royal Visit

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visit the Pier during the Chicago International Fair and Exposition, a showcase of global business.
1959
Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum
Cargo Peaks

The Pier reaches its peak cargo volume in 1964.
1961
Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum
UIC Departs

Having outgrown its classroom capacity on the Pier, UIC moves to larger quarters at the Circle Campus, where enrollment will grow over 300% in the next five years.
1965
Photo Credit: chuckmanchicagonostalgia.wordpress.com
Bicentennial Visit

The Christian Radich, a celebrated tall ship from Norway, visits the U.S. as part of the nation’s Bicentennial celebration and docks at Navy Pier. Thousands of people visit the Pier to see her.
1976
Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum
Celebration and Restoration

In honor of the Bicentennial, a much-needed restoration focuses on the Grand Ballroom at the Pier’s east end. While the rest of the Pier remains in decline, the restoration of the Grand Ballroom focuses attention and interest on reviving the Pier. Shown here is the Pier in its pre-restoration state.
1976
Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum
ChicagoFest

ChicagoFest, a ten-day summer music festival, draws half a million people to the Pier and focuses attention on its value as a “pleasure Pier for public use.” ChicagoFest continues each summer for four years, with local and national acts including Willie Dixon, Jim Peterik, Chuck Berry, Journey, Head East, Muddy Waters, and in 1982, Frank Sinatra. In its final year, the fest becomes the target of a boycott by civil rights activists led by Jesse Jackson. The boycott compels Stevie Wonder to cancel his scheduled appearance.
1978-82
Photo Credit: Chicago History Museum
Big Changes

The long freight sheds between the headhouse and the Grand Ballroom are demolished to make way for Navy Pier’s next chapter.
1992
Photo Credit: Courtesy Navy Pier
A Focus on Fun

A four-year, $150 million restoration of the entire Pier is unveiled, with emphasis on amusements and entertainment. The centerpiece is a new, 146-foot tall Ferris wheel, an homage to the original Ferris wheel that graced the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.
1995
Photo Credit: Courtesy Navy Pier
WBEZ

Public radio station WBEZ (91.5 FM) begins broadcasting from Navy Pier.
1995
The Bard Arrives

The Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, founded in 1986, moves from its Lincoln Park home to Navy Pier.
1999
World Record Ride

Clinton Shepherd, a Pier employee, sets a record for the longest Ferris wheel ride and makes the The Guinness Book of World Records.
2013
Celebrating 100 Years

Navy Pier celebrates 100 years of reinvention. Dock Street gets a refreshed “Pierscape” by the designers of New York’s High Line. A new, taller Ferris wheel with climate-controlled gondolas is inaugurated to commemorate the anniversary. It is aptly named the Centennial Wheel. Plans for a hotel are announced.
2016
Freshwater Cup

The America’s Cup race holds its first-ever freshwater race in Lake Michigan.
Photo Credit: Copyright ACEA / Photo Ricardo Pinto
2016
A Greener Pier

Navy Pier announces that over the next 30 years, it will adopt ambitious environmental practices and become a model of a sustainable urban landscape. Among the innovations the Pier implements: native plantings, benches constructed of recycled materials, efficient energy use, and greener water reclamation practices.