Ferris kept on with the wheel ideas and proposed a bigger and taller tower, to stand as its own centerpiece at the World's Columbian Exposition.

Piles of timber were driven thirty-two feet into the ground, on top of which was laid a grillage of steel that was then filled with concrete.

The completed wheel rotated on a 71-ton, 45.5 foot (13.9 meter) long axle that was at that time the world's largest hollow forging.

Upon first seeing the wheel which towered over everything in its vicinity, Julian Hawthorne, son of the author Nathaniel, was amazed that anything of such a size "continues to keep itself erect ... it has no visible means of support – none that appear adequate.

The workmen however, climbed the structure and settled themselves on the spokes to the accompaniment of cheers from an audience of fair employees who had gathered to watch the momentous event.

[1] The Ferris Wheel took 20 minutes to make two revolutions, the first involving six stops to allow passengers to exit and enter and the second a nine-minute non-stop rotation, for which the ticket holder paid 50 cents (equivalent to $16.96 in 2023).

[8] The wheel itself closed in April 1894 and was then dismantled and stored until the following year, when it was rebuilt in the Lincoln Park, Chicago, neighborhood.

[13] William D. Boyce, then a local resident, filed a Circuit Court action against the owners of the wheel to have it removed, but without success.

In 1896, the Lumiere Brothers, inventors of cinema, shot film (catalogue number 338[14][15]) of the intersection of Wrightwood and Clark which included the Ferris wheel.

The wheel operated at Clark St. from October 1895 until 1903, when it was purchased at auction by the Chicago House Wrecking Company (CHWC) for $8,150[17] (equivalent to $276,380 in 2023).

After the 1904 World's Fair closed on December 1, 1904, no purchasers were found who would pay for the relocation of the great Ferris Wheel, despite many efforts.

"[18] In 2007, a magnetic survey using a cesium magnetometer[19] indicated that a long, steel or iron object (presumed to be the axle) was buried under a major street roughly 200 feet (61 m) from where the wheel was demolished.