St. Louis Ferris Wheel Is Part Of Century-Old Tradition

Following months of crowds and fanfare, most of the infrastructure associated with the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair was demolished soon after the festivities ended. That included George Ferris Jr.’s giant wheel, which had first debuted in Chicago in 1893 and boasted 36 observation cars — “each the size of a Bi-State bus,” as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch later described them. But Ferris’ legacy survived the dynamite and has seen something of a resurgence locally since the opening of the 200-foot-tall St. Louis Wheel at Union Station last fall. And last Friday, wheel-goers found a special celebration underway there: a very Valentine’s Day-themed observance of National Ferris Wheel Day. St. Louis on the Air producers stop by to take in the scene and talk with first-time riders. And host Sarah Fenske leads a discussion about St. Louis observation wheels past and present with Jody Sowell and Karyn Wilder.