CHICAGO — Crowds have flocked to the newly-revamped Northerly Island in the days since it reopened this month as a lush, 43-acre park with paths, streams and stunning views.

Its previous life as an airport — Meigs Field — is well known, in part because of its middle-of-the-night destruction.

But the "island," which is actually a peninsula, had a much earlier life as the site of the 1933-34 Century of Progress World's Fair. The Chicago Film Archives has rounded up a series of old home movies showing what the fair and Northerly Island looked like in its former glory. There is also footage of The Field Museum and Downtown Chicago as well as some impressive aerial shots in the fourth reel.

Here are some of the films:

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