World’s FairsFound, not built?
Seattle 1909Investigate

1909 · Seattle, United States

Investigate this fair

5 clues in 5 photos, strongest first. Tap a photo to zoom in on each clue.

Case file

The Hypothesis

Seattle's fair was laid out on a campus among very old trees, twenty years after a fire and street raising that buried lower floors, so some halls may have been older than 1909.

Seattle's fair sat on a university campus among very tall firs, twenty years after the 1889 fire and the raised streets. The photos show whole-trunk colonnades and domed palaces among old conifers.

What the photos and records show

  • Very tall, mature firs and conifers stand among the pavilions.
  • The Forestry Building has whole bark-covered trunks; the record says it was demolished in 1931.
  • The record says some halls survive as campus buildings.
  • After the 1889 fire, arched openings sit near the debris line and the streets were raised.

Open questions

  • Which campus buildings predate the fair?
  • What did the grounds look like before 1909?
  • What is under the raised streets?

What would settle it

  • Pre-1909 campus maps.
  • Construction dates of the surviving halls.
  • Survey of the underground.

Photo 1

Forestry Building at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific-Exposition, ca.1910 - DPLA - 050b5e9addc36f6f9185e620a054d6b3

Forestry Building at the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific-Exposition, ca.1910 - DPLA - 050b5e9addc36f6f9185e620a054d6b3Zoom in

Photo: Lowman & Hanford · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

  1. 1ScaleA colonnade of whole trunksThe Forestry Building has a colonnade of whole bark-covered trunks. The record says it was demolished in 1931.The questionHow were whole trunks this size felled, hauled and stood upright in 1909?

Photo 2

AYPE view to Agricultural Building and north

AYPE view to Agricultural Building and north
Zoom in

Photo: AJ Park · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

  1. 1WeatheringMature conifers by a domed palaceThe AYPE view toward the Agricultural Building shows a domed palace with tall, mature conifers behind it.The questionWas the forest there first, and how much of the site was cleared around it?

Photo 3

Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Idaho State Building

Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Idaho State BuildingZoom in

Photo: Could not be extracted automatically; most are anonymous or pseudonymous. Scanned by the Seattle Public Library. · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

  1. 1WeatheringVery tall firs among pavilionsThe Idaho State Building sits among very tall mature firs that tower over the pavilions.The questionIf the trees are that old, what else stood in this ground before 1909?

Photo 4

China-day-parade-chinese-village-at-the-alaska-yukon-pacific-exposition-seattle-september-13-1909

China-day-parade-chinese-village-at-the-alaska-yukon-pacific-exposition-seattle-september-13-1909Zoom in

Photo: Unknown author circa 1909 · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

  1. 1Scale · whole photoA parade on campusA dense crowd fills the parade route at the pagoda-roofed Chinese village, with a Ferris wheel behind.The questionWith crowds this big, why was the fair laid out on a university campus, and which campus buildings predate it?

Photo 5

Ruins of Dexter Horton Bank after Seattle fire of June 6, 1889 (CURTIS 2103)

Ruins of Dexter Horton Bank after Seattle fire of June 6, 1889 (CURTIS 2103)Zoom in

Photo: Unknown photographer · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

  1. 1Below-grade windowsBrick arches from rubble, 1889After the 1889 fire, the Dexter Horton Bank ruins show brick arches rising from rubble, and arched openings sit close to the debris line. The record notes the raised streets that followed.The questionTwenty years before the fair, did Seattle's streets bury lower floors, and what is under the raised streets?

Hypotheses this fair feeds

Patterns where this fair, its buildings or its photo clues are part of the evidence.

Strong110 entriesThe ground came up: buried floors are everywhereBuried ground floors, stairs that go down to a door, raised streets and dug-out temples appear in 35 countries in our collection, from Seattle to Rome to Edfu. Common sense says ground doesn't rise metres in a few centuries without something bringing it. The documented causes vary (river silt, drifting sand, volcanic ash, rubble, deliberate street raising), but the result is the same: older cities sit under newer ones far more often than most people picture. The open possibility is that some of the raising on record was the cleanup of a deposit rather than a choice.Strong53 entriesFire as the reset buttonCity after city loses its old centre to one big fire, usually blamed on something homely like a pipe, a glue pot or a cow, and within one to three years a grander stone and brick centre stands in its place, often on a brand-new street plan that was ready almost at once. Common sense says rebuilding a downtown in stone takes money, masons and quarries a city doesn't have the morning after a disaster. One possibility is that some of these fires cleared old fabric and old ownership, and the rebuild was planned or supplied from outside.Moderate19 entriesA second clearance: the 1930s and the 1950s–60sThe surviving giants of the fair era didn't fade out evenly. Five great fair halls were lost to fire or demolition between 1931 and 1937, and then a second wave of grand stations, city halls and banks came down between 1950 and 1968. Common sense: if these buildings were simply old and costly, losses would be spread out. Bunched losses suggest a policy, a fashion, or a reason to remove a particular kind of evidence.

All hypotheses →

Related clues at other fairs

#4Below-grade windows · Grand Central TerminalGrand Central: arched windows at the debris lineWhy does a brand-new terminal have arched openings at or below the working grade?#10Scale · St. Louis 1904Twelve men and a tripod to plant one treeIf one tree took this much effort, what did the palaces take?Scale · London 1851Carriages for scale along the north-east frontAt that scale, what did the hauling and erection really require from a horse-powered city?Weathering · Philadelphia 1876Dark streaks on the surviving corniceHow long does weathering like this take, and does any of it predate 1876?Scale · Philadelphia 1876Crowds give the scaleHow many stone-setters and teams would a hall like this need on the timeline recorded?Scale · Paris 1889The Galerie des Machines at true scaleHow was a span that size raised for a single season?

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