Opened in 1916 as both a shipping dock and public entertainment space, Navy Pier has evolved into one of the country’s most visited tourist destinations. Originally named “Municipal Pier,” plans for its construction were included in Daniel Burnham’s Plan of Chicago, which laid out detailed infrastructure and public works plans for the growing city.

The pier was integral during both world wars, housing soldiers in World War I and training an estimated 60,000 military personnel during World War II. The University of Illinois established a campus on the pier in the 1940s until building their permanent home in Chicago’s Near West Side neighborhood in the mid-1960s.

After several decades serving as a public event space, a major renovation in the early 1990s led to the development of several restaurants, the Chicago Shakespeare Theater and the infamous Ferris wheel. Over the weekend, the Ferris wheel hosted its last visitor, as plans to replace it with a taller Ferris wheel to open in mid-summer 2016 were announced. The current Ferris wheel has hosted more than 10 million visitors in the 20 years it has been in operation.

Learn more:
Planning a trip to Navy Pier? Check out the official Navy Pier website for important details
Read more on the closing of the pier’s current Ferris wheel and the construction of its replacement