Investigate · Chicago 1893

Mfg & liberal arts bldg construction photos 26

1 clue in this photo

1Impossible timeline

The iron arches, with three people in sight

The 'construction photos 26' file of the Manufactures and Liberal Arts Building shows the iron arched trusses complete over a plank floor, with steel pieces scattered about and only about three people visible. The file is dated 10 October 1893, during the fair.

The questionWhy is a 'construction' photo dated during the fair, and how was a span like this put up in the time recorded?

Photo: C.D. Arnold, WCE official photographer. · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

Chicago 1893 Case file

Same kind of clue, elsewhere

Impossible timeline · London 18511,850 feet of iron and glass in about nine monthsHow many men, carts and horses would it take to cast, haul and raise thousands of matching iron parts that quickly, and where are the photos of that work?

Impossible timeline · Philadelphia 1876The 1,880-foot Main BuildingWith horses and horsecars as the heavy transport, how was this length of iron and glass raised in two years?

Impossible timeline · Paris 1889A moving gallery over a vast iron spanWhy build a hall this strong only to take it down two decades later?

Impossible timeline · Atlanta 1895A city of palaces in a recovering townWhere are the quarry and mill records for the fair's buildings?

Impossible timeline · Nashville 1897A whole classical town in a bird's-eye viewHow was a site this size built, and a full-size Parthenon cast, within about a year?

Impossible timeline · Omaha 1898A Chicago-scale court in a prairie cityHow did a city that size supply the crews, materials and horses for a court like this?

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