World’s FairsFound, not built?
Chicago 1893Investigate

Investigate · Chicago 1893

Administration Building From Wooded Island — Official Views Of The World's Columbian Exposition — 33

Administration Building From Wooded Island — Official Views Of The World's Columbian Exposition — 33
1 clue in this photo

1Weathering

Mature trees on a former swamp

From the Wooded Island, full mature trees and dense shrubs line the path toward the Administration Building. The site is described as swampy lakefront only two years earlier.

The questionHow do you get a mature woodland on a swamp in two years?

Photo: C. D. Arnold (1844-1927); H. D. Higinbotham · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

Chicago 1893Case file

Same kind of clue, elsewhere

Weathering · Philadelphia 1876Dark streaks on the surviving corniceHow long does weathering like this take, and does any of it predate 1876?Weathering · Chicago 1893An established lawn and potted palmsWas the ground freshly made, or already settled?Weathering · Nashville 1897A weathered grotto overgrown with vinesHow does a grotto look this overgrown at a fair that had just opened?Weathering · Omaha 1898Young, thin trees: a contrary detailIf the planting was new, was the ground new too, or was an older site cleared and replanted?Weathering · Buffalo 1901Mature trees around the survivorWas the park landscape older than the fair, and was the building too?Weathering · St. Louis 1904Full canopy along the Grand BasinHow many mature trees were moved, and from where?

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