Louisiana Purchase Exposition

On the globe

See full fair gallery (16)

Dates: 30 Apr – 1 Dec 1904
Site: Forest Park
Declared purpose: A fair for the 100th anniversary of the Louisiana Purchase (opened a year late).
Fate: The Palace of Fine Arts survives as the Saint Louis Art Museum, and the Flight Cage is still at the zoo. The rest was demolished.
Architect of record: Isaac S. Taylor, chief of design: about 51 when credited (1901, born 1850). Build time on record: about 3 years (1901–04).All architects of record →

Hidden history

Found, Not Built

St. Louis built the biggest fair of them all, about 1,200 acres, and left almost none of it standing. Some researchers say the 1903 photos show cleanup rather than construction.

Construction or cleanup?
Photos from 1903 show canals being dug and trees being planted in front of finished palaces. Researchers ask whether the buildings came before the 'construction.'
A dome to rival St. Peter's
Festival Hall's dome was described as larger than St. Peter's in Rome, and it came down within a year. That raises the obvious question.
Egypt on the Mississippi
Some research links the St. Louis area, and its mounds, to Egypt. A Further Viewing episode below follows that idea.