FairsPhiladelphia 1876

Centennial Exposition: Main building, main avenue, by Centennial Photographic Co.

Centennial Exposition: President Grant declaring the exhibition open at the centennial at Memorial Hall, Philadelphia, 1876 LCCN2006677401

Centennial Exposition: Construction of the Netherlands department in the main exhibition building of the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876

Centennial Exposition: Department of Public Comfort at Centennial Exposition, 1876

Photo: Popular Graphic Arts · Public domain · via Library of Congress via Wikimedia Commons

1876 · Philadelphia, United States

Centennial Exposition

On the globe

See full fair gallery (15)

Dates: 10 May – 10 Nov 1876
Site: Fairmount Park
Declared purpose: The first official world's fair in the United States, marking 100 years since the Declaration of Independence.
Fate: Memorial Hall still stands. The Main Building, about a third of a mile long, was sold and taken down by 1881.
Architect of record: Hermann J. Schwarzmann, chief architect: about 28 when credited (1874, born 1846). Build time on record: about 2 years (1874–76).All architects of record →

Hidden history

Found, Not Built

The Main Building was one of the biggest buildings in the world, and it lasted five years. Memorial Hall, the domed stone gallery beside it, has lasted 150. What the photos show is a park filled with palaces in about two years.

A building a third of a mile long
The declared length was 1,880 feet. Researchers set that against horse teams, hand tools and a two-year window, and ask what was really going on at Fairmount Park.
The 'construction' photos
A department being fitted out inside the Main Building is often shown as construction. The question: does it show a building going up, or an existing hall being cleaned and filled?
Why keep only one?
Memorial Hall was kept and the rest went. Possibility worth asking about: was the stone survivor the one that couldn't be explained away?