<P> The exposition was located in Jackson Park and on the Midway Plaisance on 630 acres (2.5 km) in the neighborhoods of South Shore, Jackson Park Highlands, Hyde Park and Woodlawn . Charles H. Wacker was the Director of the Fair . The layout of the fairgrounds was created by Frederick Law Olmsted, and the Beaux - Arts architecture of the buildings was under the direction of Daniel Burnham, Director of Works for the fair . Renowned local architect Henry Ives Cobb designed several buildings for the exposition . The Director of the American Academy in Rome, Francis Davis Millet, directed the painted mural decorations . Indeed, it was a coming - of - age for the arts and architecture of the "American Renaissance", and it showcased the burgeoning neoclassical and Beaux - Arts styles . </P> <P> The World's Columbian Exposition was the first world's fair with an area for amusements that was strictly separated from the exhibition halls . This area, developed by a young music promoter, Sol Bloom, concentrated on Midway Plaisance and introduced the term "midway" to American English to describe the area of a carnival or fair where sideshows are located . </P> <P> It included carnival rides, among them the original Ferris Wheel, built by George Washington Gale Ferris Jr...This wheel was 264 feet (80 m) high and had 36 cars, each of which could accommodate 40 people . The importance of the Columbian Exposition is highlighted by the use of rueda de Chicago ("Chicago wheel") in many Latin American countries such as Costa Rica and Chile in reference to the Ferris wheel . One attendee, George C. Tilyou, later credited the sights he saw on the Chicago midway for inspiring him to create America's first major amusement park, Steeplechase Park in Coney Island, New York . </P> <P> The fair included life - size reproductions of Christopher Columbus' three ships, the Niña (real name Santa Clara), the Pinta, and the Santa Maria . These were intended to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of the Americas . The ships, a joint project of the governments of Spain and the United States, were constructed in Spain and then sailed to America for the exposition . The ships were a very popular exhibit . </P>

What entertainment ride was introduced at the world’s columbian exhibition