Expo Legacies: Names, Numbers, Facts & Figures

By Mike Gregory

World's Fairs and Expositions have been part of our American Culture for more than 150 years. The fairs started out in a large exhibit hall, and as the years passed and the number of exhibits grew as did the number of buildings needed for the displays. Eventually many states, nations, and individuals would start building their own buildings.

How many of these buildings are still standing? That was a major focus of the research of this book. Some fairs left several buildings while others have nothing to remind us of the glory of the fair.

The book also focuses on the statistics and interesting facts about the fairs and expos.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jul 8, 2009
• ISBN: 9781467849852

Mike Gregory

Mike Gregory grew up in Battle Creek, Michigan and always had an interest in history. After discovering a guide book for the 1876 Centennial Exposition at an antique store, his interest in the fairs and all their history became an obsession. Having visited two fairs in his youth, Mr. Gregory has visited every world's fair and expo around the world since 1986. He now teaches elementary school in Las Vegas, Nevada, and still planning to visit future fairs and expos.

Book preview

© 2009 Mike Gregory. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 6/30/2009

ISBN: 978-1-4389-8074-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4389-8073-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4678-4985-2 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2009904190

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

Contents

1853 - New York City

Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations

1876 - Philadelphia

Centennial Exposition

1881 - Atlanta

International Cotton

Exposition

1883 – Boston

The American Exhibition of the Products Arts and Manufactures of Foreign Nations

1883 – Louisville

Southern Exposition

1884~85 – New Orleans

The World’s Industrial and Cotton Centennial

Exposition

1888 – Cincinnati

Centennial Exposition of the Ohio Valley and

Central States

1888 – Jacksonville

Sub-Tropical Exposition

1893 – Chicago

World’s Columbian Exposition

1894 – San Francisco

California Mid-Winter

International Exposition

1895 – Atlanta

Cotton States and

International Exposition

1897 – Nashville

Tennessee Centennial

Exposition

1898 – Omaha

Trans-Mississippi and

International Exposition

1901 – Buffalo

Pan-American Exposition

1902 – Charleston

South Carolina Inter-state and West Indian Exposition

1904 – St. Louis

Louisiana Purchase

International Exposition

1905 – Portland

Lewis and Clark Centennial and American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair

1907 – Norfolk

Jamestown Ter-Centennial Exposition

1909 – Seattle

Alaska-Yukon-Pacific

Exposition

1915 – 1916 - San Diego

Panama California

Exposition

1915 – San Francisco

Panama Pacific

International Exposition

1926 – Philadelphia

Sesqui-Centennial

International Exposition

1928 – Long Beach

Pacific Southwest

Exposition

1933 – Chicago

Century of Progress

Exposition

1935 – San Diego

California Pacific

International Exposition

1936 – Cleveland

Great Lakes Exposition

1936 – Dallas

Texas Centennial

Exposition

1939 – New York

New York World’s Fair

1939 – San Francisco

Golden Gate International Exposition

1962 – Seattle

Century 21 Exposition

1964 – New York

New York World’s Fair

1968 – San Antonio

HemisFair ’68

1974 – Spokane

Expo ’74

1982 – Knoxville

Knoxville International Energy Exposition

Expo ‘82

1984 – New Orleans

Louisiana World ExpositioN

Expo ‘84

1992 – Columbus

AmeriFlora ’92

Introduction

World’s Fairs have been around for hundreds of years, but it wasn’t until Great Britain invited the other nations of the world to come to London in 1851 for the first international exhibition. America followed just two years later with their version in New York City. Almost every major city in the United States has hosted some sort of international exposition or world’s fair during the past 150 years.

The study of exposition architecture has brought forth some fascinating wonders as well as the work of many famous architects including: Gustave Eiffel, Le Corbusier, Alvar Aalto, Buckminister Fuller, Kenzo Tange, and many others. The first expositions were held in one large structure, usually made of iron and glass. As the expositions grew so did the need for more structures. These began to be replaced with wood and masonry. Many of the buildings also became specialized, thus having the Agricultural Hall, Horticultural Hall, Machinery, and the Art Palace at the Centennial Exposition in 1876. By 1893, the Columbian Exposition also included palaces for Electricity, Transportation, Mining, and Forestry. About this same time was the introduction of a material called staff. These huge buildings were quickly built with simple wooden frames and covered with a plaster. The use of these topical exhibit halls lasted into the mid-1930’s.

Starting with the Centennial Exposition, many of the states began to build their own building. By the St. Louis World’s Fair, almost every state and territory had built a building at the fair. By the 1930’s, these too began to diminish. The absence of the large palaces and state buildings began to be replaced with the foreign and corporate pavilions. By the 1960’s, these became the focal point of the world’s fair.

I visited my first world’s fair in 1974 during a family vacation traveling to Yellowstone National Park and then on to Washington State. A few years later, I visited the world’s fair in Knoxville, Tennessee, but it wasn’t until the summer of 1985 that I became an expo nut. I found my first guide book from the 1876 Centennial held in Philadelphia, and I was hooked. I found out that there were other collectors out there and I started to do my research. I then went to Expo ‘86 in Vancouver with the intention of doing research and collecting what I could. I’ve been to every exposition since that time.

I began to think about the thousands of buildings that were built for the fairs and wondered what ever became of them. I was shocked to discover that most of them were torn down. Well, what was still standing out there today? Many years later, I’m glad to say that I have found several buildings that have stood the test of time. Some of these were once large proud palaces at the fairs. Others were built as state buildings, while others were built by individual companies and other institutions. Some cities kept several of the buildings, and others left nothing behind. I hope you enjoy this book. I enjoyed all the traveling in order to do my research. Keep an eye out in the future for other books I plan to write on the legacies of the many foreign expositions and national fairs.

I would like to thank my Mom and Dad for taking me on all those early family vacations and giving me the love of travel. To my son, Kaven, thanks for going with me on some of those research trips and for all his help. Thanks to my friends and family who have stood by me all these years. They have supported and encouraged me to keep up my interest and love of history.

1853 - New York City

Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations

After visiting the Great Exhibition in London, a group of American businessmen felt that the United States should host a similar exhibition and no better place would be than New York City. In December 1851, a petition was presented to the Board of Alderman of New York City for an appropriation to be used in creating an industrial exhibition. Behind these plans was Edward Riddle, who had been the U.S. Commissioner to the London exhibition.

Reservoir Square, between 40th and 42nd streets, was obtained for the site on January 3, 1852, and on March 11, the State of New York granted a charter to a company of men organizing the exhibition. A week later Theodore Sedgwick was appointed the company’s president, and allowed the association to issue stock for amounts not to exceed $300,000.

A competition was held for the design of an exhibition building including even Joseph Paxton, the designer of the Crystal Palace in London, submitting plans. The final plans of Georg Carstensen and Charles Gildemeister were chosen on August 26, 1852. Their Crystal Palace would be two stories, the first in an octagonal shape and the second in the shape of a Greek Cross, surmounted by a dome. As applications for space were coming in, it became obvious that the building was not large enough, and in October 1852, work began on a 2-story machinery annex attached to the main building and opened on August 10, 1853.

1853%20-%20New%20York.jpg

Africa: Liberia

America: Bermuda, British Guiana, Canada, Cuba, Haiti, Mexico, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, USA

Asia: Turkey

Europe: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Zollverein

! Edward Riddle’s first choice of sites was Madison Square, but local residents objected.

! Reservoir Square was 445 x 455 feet.

! Reservoir Square was leased for five years for $1 per year.

! The Crystal Palace measured 365’5 x 365’5.

! The Dome was 100 feet in diameter and rose 148 feet.

! There were 1,800 tons of iron, 750,000 feet of lumber, and 55,000 sq. feet of glass used in the Crystal Palace.

! The 15,000 panes of glass were 7 inch thick and manufactured by Jackson Glass works.

! The first column was erected on October 28, 1852.

! The original plan included a basement, which was omitted.

! In each of the eight corners was a tower seventy-five feet high.

! The Machinery Annex was 451 x 75 feet.

! The cost to build the Crystal Palace was over $600,000.

! The total exhibit space was 249,691 sq. feet.

! The decorations were completed by Henry Greenough.

! 7,000 people were present on opening day.

! President Franklin Pierce rode his horse to the opening ceremony.

! Admission for opening day was $10, a season ticket was $10.00, and monthly tickets were $2.50.

! There were thirty-one classes of exhibits.

! About two-thirds of exhibits were foreign.

! There were 2,083 American exhibitors.

! Famous exhibits included: McCormick’s reaper, the Colt revolver, the Otis Elevator, daguerreotypes of Mathew Brady, and the telegraph by Samuel Morse.

! There were 675 paintings in the picture gallery, mostly European.

! The only notable example of American art was a statue called the Greek Slave by Hiram Powers.

! Under the dome was an equestrian statue of George Washington by Baron Marochetti.

! Waring Latting built the Latting Tower just outside the Palace that rose 350 feet and cost $18,000. A steam elevator took people to different levels. It was the tallest man-made structure in America. The tower burned down on August 30, 1856.

1853%20-%20Palace.jpg

The exhibition was never much of a great success. In February 1854, the great showman, P. T. Barnum took over as President, and closed the exhibition on April 15. He reorganized and held a grand reopening on May 4, 1854. Even with the admission price cut in half, this still couldn’t save the exhibition which eventually closed on November 1, 1854, $300,000 in debt.

Through an intense search, no official records were found of a final financial report. From the many different sources found, I have tried my best to come up with figures that represent the given information. In a report printed in early 1854, the exhibition had a total income of $938,872 and a loss of $125,000. Given the figure of a running cost of about $2,140 a week and with a final debt of $300,000, a final total cost should have amounted to about $1,400,000 with total revenues approximately $1,100,000.

For a few more years the grand palace was used for smaller exhibits. At 5:00 p.m. on October 5, 1858, a fire broke out in a closet near the 42nd Street entrance. Within twelve minutes the dome had collapsed, and within a half-hour, the palace was completely destroyed with a loss of about $500,000. At the time there were about 2,000 people inside and miraculously not one life was lost. Today, this is the site of Bryant Park opposite the New York Public Library.

1876 - Philadelphia

Centennial Exposition

The Centennial of American Independence was certainly a cause to celebrate with an exposition. It was this feeling that Professor John L. Campbell of Wabash College in Indiana presented to the Smithsonian Institute in February 1864. Two years later, Professor Campbell wrote a letter to Philadelphia Mayor, Morton McMichael, suggesting the same idea.

On January 20, 1870, the select Council of Philadelphia unanimously endorsed a plan to hold an international exposition. On March 3, 1871, an act of congress, initiated by Congressman Daniel J. Morrell of Pennsylvania, provided that the centennial anniversary of the promulgation of the Declaration of American Independence in Philadelphia should be celebrated by holding an International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mines. This same act created the United States Centennial Commission, which in March 1872 appointed Joseph R. Hawley as President and Alfred T. Goshorn as Director-General.

On June 1, 1872, Congress adopted a bill to create the Centennial Board of Finance that was authorized to sell up to $10 million in stock, but actually only $2.5 million was sold. The City of Philadelphia appropriated $1.5 million. The State of Pennsylvania granted $1 million, and the U.S. Congress loaned $1.5 million to finish the completion of the buildings. Admission and concessionaire payments hoped to bring in another $2 million.

On July 4, 1873, the park commissioner donated over 450 acres of Fairmount Park’s 2,470 acres to the Centennial Commission; eventually 236 acres would be used for the exposition. A contest was arranged to select an architect to lay out the site. On April 1, 1874, the commission adopted the plans of Hermann J. Schwarzmann, who also designed several of the buildings on the grounds.

The groundbreaking was held on July 4, 1874. The buildings were divided into four broad categories: main exhibit halls, state, foreign, and private. The general exhibit buildings included the enormous Main Building, Machinery Hall, Agricultural Hall, Horticultural Hall, Memorial Hall, Women’s Pavilion, and the U.S. Government Building.

1876%20-%20Agriculture.jpg

Main Building

Architect: Henry Petit & J. Wilson

Builder: R. J. Dobbins

Size: 1,880 x 464 feet

Cost: $1,580,000

Horticultural Hall

Architect: H. J. Schwarzmann

Builder: John Rice

Size: 383 x 193 feet

Cost: $251,937

U. S. Government Building

Architect: James Windrim

Builder: Aaron Doan

Size: 504 x 360 feet

Cost: $110,000

Machinery Hall