Chapters:
00:46 – “Discover why Navy Pier is essential to the history of Chicago”
02:50 – “Unveiling ‘The Plan of Chicago’: The Blueprint for Navy Pier”
06:16 – “Behind the Scenes: The Fascinating Design and Construction of Navy Pier”
08:27 – “Step Inside the Grand Opening of Navy Pier: A Chicago Spectacle”
09:31 – “Navy Pier in Its Heyday: Explore the Thrilling Entertainment Offerings”
11:58 – “A New Name, A New Era: The Story Behind Navy Pier’s Renaming”
12:35 – “The Untold Story of Navy Pier’s Downfall and Resurgence”
13:00 – “How the US Navy Made Navy Pier Their Home: An Untold Story”
13:53 – “From Decline to Revival: How the St Lawrence Seaway Saved Navy Pier”
14:32 – “Lost and Found: The Mystery of Navy Pier’s Trolley Tracks”
15:08 – “Navy Pier’s Second Fall from Grace: What Went Wrong”
16:08 – “Taste of Chicago: Why Navy Pier is the Ultimate Destination for Foodies”
16:45 – “A New Chapter: The Exciting Redevelopment of Navy Pier You Don’t Want to Miss”
Navy Pier is one of Chicago’s most iconic landmarks, attracting millions of visitors each year. But how did this impressive structure come to be? In this video, we’ll take a look at the fascinating history of Navy Pier, from its early days as a shipping and recreation hub to its transformation into the bustling entertainment destination we know today. First built in 1916, Navy Pier was originally known as Municipal Pier and was designed to serve as a docking facility for cargo ships and passenger steamers. Over the years, the pier also served as a military training facility during World War II and as a campus for the University of Illinois at Chicago. In the 1980s, the city of Chicago began a major renovation project to transform Navy Pier into a premier entertainment destination. The renovated pier, which opened in 1995, features a variety of attractions, including the famous 150-foot Ferris wheel, the Chicago Children’s Museum, the IMAX theater, and a plethora of restaurants, shops, and entertainment options. Throughout its history, Navy Pier has played an important role in the life of the city of Chicago, serving as a vital transportation hub, a military training facility, and a hub for recreation and entertainment. Today, it continues to be one of the most popular tourist destinations in the city, offering visitors a unique glimpse into the city’s history and culture, as well as a wide range of exciting attractions and activities.
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IT’S HISTORY – Weekly tales of American Urban Decay as presented by your host Ryan Socash.
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» CREDIT
Scriptwriter – Ryan Socash
Editor – David Daddario
Host – Ryan Socash
» SOURCES
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» NOTICE
Some images may be used for illustrative purposes only – always reflecting the accurate time frame and content. Events of factual error / mispronounced word/spelling mistakes – retractions will be published in this section.
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interesting
thank you for doing your Chicago work, I enjoy them
I was born at the former michael reese hospital on the lakefront and even as a child, i enjoyed visiting navy pier nearly every weekend!
Make no small plans
I haven't visited the pier since the updated Ferris Wheel. This video made me hyped up to go back! Plus, I heard there is new stuff to see from some remodeled parts.
See you in the summer, Navy Pier!
I remember in the 1990’s when the Shakespeare Theatre opened on Navy Pier, such a beautiful addition.
Bravo. I am glad it survived. It is a shame that the other buildings mentioned (including the grand B&O and IC railway stations that were lost) couldn’t have been repurposed instead of being demolished. Too many developers have ignored the value of keeping stunning architecture. They’d rather build new for the gentrificates that have grown up in the last 30 years being taught that “old” is, well, old and that upscale looking apartments and shopping can’t possibly exist within a structure that was designed to last centuries. 🙄
Funny thing about Chicago. If I had to pick between LA, Chicago, New York, San Francisco, portland or Boston as a place to live — Chicago would be on top of my list.
Would it be worth your while to look at the transportation available from New York to Boston at the turn of the 20th century?
Love your channel, I’ve been watching for years … however take off the silly hat. You’re inside, in controlled temps.
The Charles Bronson film with Laurence Fishburne in it had a chase scene around Navy Pier during its lull in the early 80s.
Can you please do an episode about the Calgary Stampede? I imagine the history you find in it would blow your mind.
It was abandoned for many years, then, it opened up to something called Chicago Fest, A music festival, and businesses began to move in such as Dick’s last resort on the inlet that is right next to Navy Pier. There’s a gorgeous ballroom out at the end. My grandmother used to live in that call Cloverleaf building right there at the beginning of the pier called Lakepoint tower
My Dad had a boat in Montrose harbor back in the 70s and I have very vivid memories of going past Navy Pier. The majority of the windows of the ballroom were broken or boarded up. It certainly looked abandoned. And does anyone remember Rocky's? Still the best fried shrimp I ever had.
Remiss not to mention the International Art Expositions throughout the 80's. Very histiric significance.
I came to Uni in Chicago in the 90s and the pier was just becoming a major tourist attraction at that time. The lakefront, Grant Park, Buckingham Fountain were all nearly as they are today minus the millennium skating area and the “bean”.
The pier had a few shops, and had the first of what would then be two different wheels.
I absolutely love Chicago and will always click on it Chicago architecture or history video. I have since lived on both the East and West Coast and total of three continents but I always think of Chicago fondly as my US hometown.
Thank you for this history video. I had believed that just like most of the land east of Michigan Avenue the pier had been created with excess landfill from the Chicago fire. But it does make more sense that this was in the earliest plans of Burnham. It is a fascinating history Including the reversal of the Chicago River, and the transformation of the river and lake area from an industrial to a scenic and tourist area.
Visitors should schedule extra time to visit Navy Pier on their first visit to Chicago!
I was a member of the last class of U of I students to attend school at Navy Pier in 1964. I remember that no classes were scheduled on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 2 and 4 p.m. so that social functions could be held for all students to attend if they wished. I remember watching "On the Waterfront," one of my favorite movies at the time, for a quarter! One of the janitors rode a bicycle up and down the halls on his way to and from whatever was his schedule for the day. His bike had one of those kid's bells mounted to the handlebars, the one with the little lever that rang the bell several times rapidly when you pulled it.
The front section housed the "cardboard classrooms." If you had a class there (and I did), your instructor had to complete with unloading and transportation noises from the business side of the Pier. Smoking was prohibited in the cardboard classroom area.
My first experiences with microwave ovens were at the Pier. There was a room that housed a wall of Amana radaranges for student use. I was the last family member to attend school there. I still have a U of I sweatshirt that my older brother got for me when he attended his first two years of college at the Pier. It's been worn almost to shreds. It was my go to sweatshirt for years.
My class only had the joy of school in a warehouse for one semester. Then, the proposed location at Congress Circle, newly renamed Chicago Circle opened. The name originally referred to the Congress Expressway which formed the northern boundary of the campus but renaming that expressway after President Eisenhower nixed the original name.
U of I at Navy Pier–gone, but never forgotten.
The history and engineering of the water cribs that are out on lake michigan is pretty fascinating and deserves a history video in itself. My Dad worked as a tender out on the cribs during summer breaks when he was home from college back in the 80s. He would stay and live out there for 5 day shifts at a time tending the filter screens that blocked debris from entering the pump houses. The job is obsolete now and the city got rid of the job and computers monitor everything that humans once did.. but it was very similar to a lighthouse keeper living at and tending to a light house.
I couldn't ever leave the beauty of the Pacific Northwest for a place like that. We don't need anything man made, for our part of the world is awesome naturally. Even a city like seattle before this horrible moment of degradation in time could not much change the lives of us. Places like Chicago can build build but can never ever surpass what the GREAT PACIFIC NORTHWEST has …… Sorry….. Go ahead and attack Seattle and Portland, that is not close to being what makes this by far the greatest region of America. I am bias of course and love my home which is nowhere near Seattle or the very sick Portland. I live in view of MT Rainier north, Mr Saint Helen's west, Mr Adams east and my Hood south. Columbia River just south, grandeur folk in Midwest great Lakes region's don't even closely have. Basicly I'm just saying you can't build your way into AWESOME but some are born naturally into it
My favorite part is visiting the stain glass museum. It's essentially at the end of all the shopping malls and you just… walk into it, and you get to view these lovely pieces of art that just seem to be placed along this hallway.
I really wish it still had train service though.
10:49 What is the structure to the left of the pier?
Haven't even been around Navy Pier since the mid-1960s, when a family friend would take us by there on his boat while out on cruising 'excursions' on Lake Michigan. Rather dank and gloomy in the inlet then. I should make it a point to get out to the modern pier area once while I still have a chance. Maybe next summer.
You should look into the Milwaukee water supply problem.
I went to navy pier in 2012 as a tourist. It was an impressive destination then but I have loved to have seen in the 1920s-in its hay-day.
I remember going down there on the 60’s watching the boats unload
This is my second city I live in Massachusetts but my gf lives in Illinois and we have gone to the city haven’t made it to the pier yet
you forgot that navy pier was in a scene from the "Blues Brothers"
As a graduate of navy bootcamp at Great lakes, this is where me and the guys spent our first day of freedom. 😆 yes, in out summer whites!
Because anything beautiful gets destroyed. Takes thousands to care to hold onto anything. The powers that be would be happy living in boxes with no soul.
I will forego some of the more glaring mistakes in the video and only mention something from me being a "local". Navy Pier was much more fascinating when it was still closer to its origins. The weird tourist mecca it has become is off putting and no one I know goes there unless they have family visit and must see it. I have had to go there a few times when I did trade shows and once for a company party on the Odyssey.