Navy Pier - First Use: Commercial Pier and Entertainment

First Use: Commercial Pier and Entertainment

Even as Chicago Municipal Pier was being built, mass-produced cars and trucks were beginning to wreak havoc on the package freight and passenger steamboat industries of Lake Michigan. The Pier proved to be much more successful as a public gathering place. In the 1920s, the Pier expanded to have its own streetcar line, a theater, and an emergency room. It gained wide recognition in 1922 by hosting the "Pageant of Progress." In 1927 the Pier was officially named Navy Pier in honor of the Naval personnel that served there during WWI.

In this period, the Pier was described as a summer playground, with recreational facilities that included picnicking areas, dining pavilions, a dance hall, auditorium, and children's playground. A radio station. WCFL, operated from the north tower of the auditorium. During the 1920s, it is estimated that an average of 3.2 million visitors frequented the Pier annually. This decade is sometimes called the Pier's "Golden Age".

The advent of the Great Depression in the early 1930s, as well as the increased use of trucks and automobiles, resulted in the decline of freight and passenger ship activity; however, cultural and recreational use of the Pier continued. In 1933, the Century of Progress Exposition (World's Fair) on the lakefront also drew many conventions and visitors to the Pier. During the 1930s, the Pier also housed various New Deal agencies.