Chicago Is Known As “The Windy City”

Chicago is not the windiest city in the US, despite what many people think. Boston, Massachusetts, which features wind speeds that are frequently up to two miles per hour quicker than Chicago's, is awarded this distinction. Why is Chicago known as the "windy city" when it doesn't even appear on most top 10 rankings of wind speeds in America?

One of the earliest recorded uses of the term "windy city" was in an editorial from Charles A. Dana of the New York Sun in 1893, who said that the city's leaders were "full of hot air." At the time, Chicago and New York were competing head-to-head to host the next World's Fair, and Chicago's "windbag" supporters were not afraid to openly advocate for their hometown in order to win. Despite Dana's best efforts to paint Chicago as a "windy city," Illinois, not New York, hosted the 1893 World's Fair.

There were additional published usage of the term "windy city" before the World's Fair controversy. The Cincinnati Enquirer capitalized on the phrase's dual meaning in 1876 by referring to a tornado that swept through the city and praising local speakers who were "full of wind."