- Each season, millions of visitors flock to Six Flags Great America in Gurnee, about 45 miles northwest of Chicago for amusement park buffs or even the casual patron, it's the best game in town.

But there was once a time about a century ago when the region boasted more than a dozen amusement parks of every shape and size.

- Chicago really played a critical role in the development of amusement parks, and it really had a history that does not reflect a lot of other cities.

I think what really set the stage was the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893.

- That summer, more than 20 million people came to Chicago for the World's Fair that showcased modern marvels in architecture and invention.

- The 1893 Columbian Exposition was a big deal.

People from around the world came to show what was the latest, the newest, and the best of their time - At the opening ceremony.

All eyes were on President Grover Cleveland when he pressed an electric button.

Flags on furled generators activated and 600 acres of fairgrounds came alive with power and light.

It was like nothing people had ever seen before - This wonderful technology of electricity.

- They had brilliant search lights and the buildings were lit up at night.

- More than a dozen neoclassical white buildings stood proudly within the main fairgrounds.

The vision of lead architect Daniel Burnham, visitors called it the White City.

- He wanted to have buildings that would be memorable in a big way, - But what was really the most successful part of the fair was the Midway Plaisance - Standing apart from the civility and order of the White City, was the Midway Plaisance, a mile long amusement zone with rides, games, and other attractions - Rather than the formal dignity and decorum of the great fairgrounds.

This was something that kind of was left to more entrepreneurs and a little bit of showbiz.

- Fairgoers could see different cultures on display in 18 foreign villages, but many of these exhibits were racist and promoted ethnic stereotypes placing amusement over authenticity.

- There's a little bit of voyeurism in some of it.

There's a little bit of kind of salacious nature to it.

- White fair goers stopped to gawk at unfamiliar faces and rituals like an Egyptian belly dance or a West African war dance.

On the other end of the Midway, a different spectacle tickled their fancy.

- They had Hagenbeck's Animal Circus, and you could see wild animals riding bicycles.

- From the obscene to the absurd.

The Midway transported fairgoers to a fantasy land, which heightened their emotions and kept them wanting more.

- You could go to the Midway Plaisance and you could just let loose.

- At the center of the Midway sat a giant rotating wheel built to rival Paris's Eiffel Tower, and designed by a young engineer from Pittsburgh named George Ferris.

- He created this truly spectacular piece of machinery - And something that stood out as a really amazing achievement.

Amidst all the corny hoopla of the Midway Ants, - Its 66 ton axle was the largest piece of steel ever forged, and the wheel could hold more than 2000 passengers at a time on each slow 20 minute ride.

- Chicago invented the skyscraper just a few years before that, so most people had never been that high, or on a moving contraption that large.

- Some people didn't even wanna go near, were just scared to death of it.

But for other people it was a thrill.

- It kind of created that sense of living life on the edge, which really fed into the whole thrill ride mythology of the amusement park industry.

- The 50 cent ticket generated sales of nearly 25 million in today's dollars - Actually the entire Midway plays on, was the most profitable part of the fair.

The fair paid off its debts and actually returned a million dollars to its shareholders.

The Midway kind of redefined what an amusement park could be.

- There's clearly a market for this.

It was a way to really see all these new things and also to, I think, participate in this experience collectively, to be able to say, I was there.