Buzz
Those visiting Chicago might encounter powerful gusts from Lake Michigan, get swept by the wind, and think, “Ah, this must be why it’s called the Windy City.” The term, which originated in the late 1800s, is a bit misleading: while Chicago is indeed a windy place, that’s not the true origin of the name.
Ask various people, and you'll get many different answers. However, the majority point to Charles A. Dana, former editor of the New York Sun—a newspaper in circulation from 1833 to 1950—who penned an editorial claiming Chicago was known for its hot-air politicians. The Chicago Tribune even ran a column in 2004, regarded as the “final word” on the term, giving Dana credit. At the time of Dana’s remark, Chicago and New York were competing to host the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. The Tribune states that the phrase stemmed from Dana’s response to the “absurd claims of that windy city. Its people couldn’t hold a world’s fair, even if they won it.”
The issue with citing Dana is that no one has ever located the supposed editorial. There’s not even a known date of publication.
Barry Popik, a New York City parking-ticket judge by day and a word detective by night, claims to have uncovered the true origins of the phrase. He discovered a May 9, 1876 Cincinnati Enquirer article with the headline, “THAT WINDY CITY. Some of the Freaks of the Last Chicago Tornado.” Popik explained that the headline used innuendo to describe speakers full of hot air and the presence of a windstorm. This is the earliest known reference to Chicago being called the Windy City, predating Dana’s mention by over a decade.
Nonetheless, both the Tribune and the Chicago Public Library maintain that Dana played a significant role in popularizing the term, even if he was not the one to coin it.
