Artlink

 

                                                              

                         Joseph Hawley, Centennial President                                                       Herman Schwarzmann, designer and architect

Joseph Roswell Hawley (October 31, 1826 – March 17, 1905) was a Governor of Connecticut, a U.S. politician in the Republican and Free Soil parties, a Civil War general, and a journalist and newspaper editor. He served two terms in the United States House of Representatives and was a four-term U.S. Senator.

Herman J. Schwarzman, designed the Centennial fairgrounds and some of the Exposition buildings, most notably, Horticultural Hall.

In 1873 the Centennial Commission named Alfred T. Goshorn as the director general of Exposition. The Fairmount Park Commission set aside 450 acres (1.8 km²) of West Fairmount Park for the exposition which was dedicated on July 4, 1873 by Secretary of the Navy George M. Robeson.

Newspaper publisher, John W. Forney, agreed to head and pay for a Philadelphia commission to be sent to Europe to invite nations to exhibit at the exposition. Despite fears of a European boycott and high American tariffs making foreign goods not worthwhile, no European country declined the invitation. 

Structures

There were more than 200 buildings constructed within Exposition's grounds which was surrounded by a fence nearly three miles long. The Centennial Commission sponsored a design competition for the principal buildings.

There were two rounds, winners of the first round had have details such as construction cost and time prepared for the runoff on September 20, 1873. After the four design winners were chosen, it was determined that none of them allowed for enough time for construction and limited finances.

Agricultrural Hall under construction 

                                                                                                                                      Agricultural Hall

To accommodate people visiting the city for the Exposition, temporary hotels were constructed near the Centennial's grounds. A Centennial Lodging-House Agency made a list of rooms in hotels, boarding houses and private homes and then sold tickets for the available rooms in cities promoting the Centennial or on trains heading for Philadelphia.

Also to accommodate crowds, streetcar lines increased service and the Pennsylvania Railroad ran special trains from Philadelphia's Market Street, New York City, Baltimore and Pittsburgh. The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad also ran special trains from the Center City part of Philadelphia. A small hospital was built on the Exposition's grounds by the Centennial's Medical Bureau, but besides a heat wave during the summer no mass deaths or epidemics occurred.

 Main Exhibit Building located opposite the Art Gallery (Memorial Hall)

1,832 feet long by 464 feet wide

The Centennial Commission turned to engineers Henry Pettit and Joseph M. Wilson for design and construction of the Main Exhibition Building. A temporary structure, the Main Building was the largest building in the world covering twenty-one and a half acres.

The building was constructed using prefabricated parts, and took eighteen months to complete. The building was made of a wood and iron frame resting on 672 stone piers. Glass was used between the frames to allow in light.

Inside, the central avenue was 120 ft (37 m) wide, 1,832 ft (558 m) long and 75 ft (23 m) high. 75 ft (23 m) tall towers sat at each of the buildings corners.

Exhibits from the United States were placed in the center of the building and foreign exhibits were placed around the center based on the nation's distance from the United States. Exhibits inside the Main Building dealt with mining, metallurgy, manufacturing, education and science.

Right to the west of the Main Building was Machinery Hall.  Machinery Hall was also designed by Pettit and Wilson and was similarly designed except that the building's frame was just made of wood. The building, which took six months to construct, was the second largest building at the Exposition and was 1,402 ft (427 m) long and 360 ft (110 m) wide.

1,402 feet long by 360 feet wide

 The Art Gallery (Memorial Hall)

Horticultural Hall, designed by Herman Schwarzmann 

Unlike most of the buildings constructed for the Exposition, Horticultural Hall was meant to be permanent. Horticultural Hall was designed by Hermann J. Schwarzmann, an engineer for the Fairmount Park Commission, had never designed a building before.

Horticultural Hall had an iron and glass frame on a brick and marble foundation and was 383 ft (117 m) long, 193 ft (59 m) wide and 68 ft (21 m) tall. The building was styled after Moorish architecture and designed as a tribute to The Crystal Palace from London's Great Exhibition. The building's exhibits specialized in horticulture and after the Exposition it continued to exhibit plants until it was badly damaged by Hurricane Hazel in 1954 and had to be demolished.

Japanese crew managed pile driving with a portable tripod, with two fixed pullys into the apex

     from which a cylindrical iron hammer weighing 300 lbs was suspended by a grass rope.

Prismoidal Elevated Railway

The elevated railway was one of the earliest monorails in America, if not the first.  It crossed Belmont Ravine on the northwest side of the fairgrounds to Lauber's restaurant, much patronized by visitors to the Exposition.

Exhibitors unloading display equipment and products for exhibit in the Main Building

The formal name of the Exposition was the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and products of the Soil and Mine, but the official theme was the celebration of the United States Centennial.

At the same time, the Exposition was designed to show the world the United States' industrial and innovative prowess. The Centennial was originally set to begin in April for the anniversary of the Battles of Lexington and Concord, but construction delays caused the date to be pushed back to May 10.

Exhibitors preparing to setup displays in the Main Building

The Corliss Engine with great pinion in the foreground

The double steam engine built by George Corliss weighed 680 tons and was the largest in the world.  It developed up to 2,500 hp and ran hundreds of machines in the hall. 

Opening Day in front of the Main Building and Art Gallery (Memorial Hall) May 10, 1876

Bells rang all over Philadelphia to signal the Centennial's opening. The opening ceremony was attended by U.S. President Ulysses Grant and his wife and Brazilian Emperor Dom Pedro and his wife.

The opening ceremony ended in Machinery Hall with Grant and Dom Pedro turning on the Corliss Steam Engine which powered most of the other machines at the Exposition. The official number of first day attendees was 186,272 people with 110,000 entering with free passes.

About 10 million visitors attended the event, equivalent to about 20% of the population of the United States at the time (though many were repeat visitors).

Locomotives on display in Machinery Hall, showing the great Corliss Engine located in the center of the building.

In the days following the opening ceremony, attendance dropped dramatically, with only 12,720 people visiting the Exposition. The average daily attendance for May was 36,000 and 39,000 for June.

A deadly heat wave began in mid-June and continued into July hurting attendance. The average temperature was 81 °F (27.2 °C), and ten times during the heat wave, the temperatures reached 100 °F (37.8 °C).

The average daily attendance for July was 35,000, but it rose in August to 42,000 despite the return of high temperatures at the end of the month.

Central aisle in the Main Building

The Cataract in Machinery Hall 

The Cataract was a display of industrial pumps, which drew water from a large tank and discharged it back in arching jets and cascades.  The flashing motion, splashing sounds and pleasant coolness made the hydraulic display a favorite spot for visitors on sweltering hot summer days.

Inside Horticultural Hall  

Smithsonian display of George Washington's personal effects 

Cooling temperatures, news reports and word of mouth began increasing attendance in the final three months of the Exposition, with many of the visitors coming from farther distances. In September the average daily attendance rose to 94,000 and to 102,000 in October. The highest attendance date of the entire Exposition was September 28.

The day, which saw about a quarter of a million people attend, was Pennsylvania Day. Pennsylvania Day celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Pennsylvania Constitution of 1776 and Exposition events included speeches, receptions and fireworks. The final month of the Exposition, November, had an average daily attendance of 115,000. By the time the Exposition ended on November 10, a total of 10,164,489 had visited the fair.

                                                     Centennial Tower                                                                 Centennial Banner

Exhibits

Technologies introduced at the fair include the Corliss Steam Engine. Waltham Watch Company displayed the first automatic screw making machinery and won the Gold Medal in the first international watch precision competition.

Until the start of 2004, many of the fair's exhibits were in the Smithsonian Institution's Arts and Industries Building in Washington, DC, adjacent to the Castle building. During the Exposition the Turkish delegation presented marijuana to the United States for the first time, becoming one of the most visited exhibits of the fair.

Conumer products first displayed to the public include:

• Alexander Graham Bell's telephone
• Remington Typographic Machine (typewriter)
• Heinz Ketchup
• Wallace-Farmer Electric Dynamo, precursor to (electric light)
• Hires Root Beer

 
A reconstruction of a "colonial kitchen" replete with spinning wheel and costumed presenters sparked an era of "Colonial Revival" in American architecture and house furnishings.

The Swedish Cottage, representing a rural Swedish schoolhouse of traditional style, was re-erected after the Exposition closed, in Central Park, New York. It is now the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre.

The New Jersey official State Pavilion was a reconstruction of the Ford Mansion, which served as General George Washington’s Headquarters during the winter of 1779-80 in Morristown, New Jersey. The reconstruction had a working "colonial kitchen" featuring a polemical narrative of "old-fashioned domesticity."

This quaint hearth and home view of the colonial past was juxtaposed against the theme of progress, the overarching theme of the exhibition serving to re-enforce a view of American progress evolving from a small hearty colonial stock and not from a continual influx of multi-ethnic waves of immigration.

Right arm and torch of the Statue of Liberty

The right arm and torch of the Statue of Liberty were showcased at the Exposition. For a fee of 50 cents, visitors could climb the ladder to the balcony, and the money raised this way was used to fund the rest of the statue.

The building housing the Japanese pavilion was dismantled after the Exposition and moved to Strafford, Pennsylvania, where it still stands, serving as that community's train station.

Country and State Buildings

France Building  

Germany Building

Japan Building

 Women's Pavilion

In addition to the five major buildings and the host of lesser structures, there were other important buildings. Among them were the U.S. Government Building and the Women's Pavilion.

The Women's Pavilion, erected by the Women's Centennial Committee led by Mrs. Elizabeth Duane Gillespie, energetic great-granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin, was an innovation for an exposition, the first large-scale attempt to exhibit the products of feminine industry and taste.

It showed the relative emancipation of the women of the United States, while it bombarded visitors with feminist and women's rights propaganda in its weekly newspaper, The New Century for Woman.

The Froebel Kindergarden was conducted in an annex to the Women's Building

The Froebel Kindergarden class was composed of sixteen bright children from the Northern Home for Friendless Children in Philadelphia. 

Evidently, the purpose for holding these classroom sessions was to draw attention to the misguided idea that children under the age of seven did not attend school because it was believed, back then, that young children did not have the ability to concentrate or to develop cognitive and emotional skills before this age. However, Froebel expressed his own beliefs about the importance of early education by stating that ". . . because learning begins when consciousness erupts, education must also".

Among the impressed spectators at one of the classroom sessions held at the Exposition was Mrs. William Wright of Weymouth, Massachusetts.  On her return home, Mrs. Wright purchased the Forebel Kindergarden playthings for her 9 year-old son Frank.  In his autobiography published 67 years later, Frank Lloyd Wright described his fascination with the colorful Froebel gifts; which a biographer published illustrations of to demonstrate that Wright's buildings repeated the shapes of his kindergarden toys. 

See our 'Education' page to find out more about education pioneer Frederich Foebel.  

Service Buildings

Department of Public Comfort Building (Visitors Bureau)

Hospital 

Exposition view from George's Hill 

Statistics

Title: The International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures and Products of the Soil and Mine.

Theme: Centenary of American Independence.

Location: Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Centennial President: Joseph R. Hawley.

Director-General: Alfred T. Goshorn.

Category: Universal Exhibition. 

Dates: May 10, 1876 - November 10, 1876 (159 days).

Area: 115 hectares (284.5 acres). 

Covered Area: 75 acres (some sources say 60 acres).

Cost: $6,724,850 (some reports state between $8,500,000 and $11,000,000). 

Profit: $2,000,000 (some sources state between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000).

Total Monetary Affect on the Area: $37,700.000. 

Attendance: 9,789,392 (some reports say 8,004,325 and some say 10,165,000).

Population of the US (1876): 46,000,000. 

Population of Philadelphia (1876): 817,448.

Opening Day Attendance: 150,000. 

Best Day: September 28th (Pennsylvania Day) - 274,919 visitors.

Best Month: October - 2,663,879 visitors. 

Main Attraction: Independence Hall.

Hours: 9:00 AM - Dusk. 

Daily Admission: 50¢ (only paper script accepted).

Admission Receipts: $3,813,724 (one third to a quarter of visitors were free admissions). 

Participating Nations: 37 Official (some reports state close to 50).

Participating Countries (44): Argentine Confederation, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Ceylon,

Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Great Britain, Germany, Greece, Guatemala,

Holland, Honduras, India, Italy, Japan, Liberia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Netherlands, Norway, Orange Free State, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Sandwich Islands (Hawaii), Siam, Spain, Straits Settlement (Singapore, Penang, Malacca), Sweden, Switzerland, Tunis, Turkey, Venezuela.

National Buildings: 11. 

Main Buildings (5): Agriculture Hall, Horticultural Hall, Machinery Hall, Main Exhibition Building, Memorial Hall.

State Buildings (24): Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin. 

Departments (7): Mining and Metallurgy, Manufactures, Education and Science, Art, Machinery, Agriculture, and Horticulture.

Total Buildings: approximately 200. 

US Exhibitors: 8,175.

Total Exhibitors: 30,864. 

Exhibits: 60,000+.

Value of Exhibits: $50,000,000. 

Conversion: every $1 (1876) = $16.39 (2003). 

Average Daily Working Mans Salary: $1.21.

Accommodations: Hotels $2.50 - $5.00 per day. 

47 US States and Territories in 1876. (26 contributing exhibits)

All exhibits had to be removed by December 31, 1876.

Facts and Trivia

It rained on Opening Day and Closing Day.

On June 25, 1876 Custer died at Little Big Horn.

The Music Pavilion in the Main Exhibition Hall had two organs. The painted pipe Roosevelt organ by Hilborne L. Roosevelt of New York, and the Centennial Organ by Hook and Hastings of Boston.

President Ulysses Grant opened and closed the Exhibition.

Alcoholic beverages were banned at the Exhibition. And for the first time, soft drinks became a popular beverage.

The Exhibition was closed on Sundays because George Corliss would not allow his engine to be run on Sunday.

 
Susan B Anthony led a demonstration on July 4th at Independence Hall.

The Exhibition had two Observation Towers. The largest one had a steam-powered elevator and was the tallest structure in the US at the time.

The Centennial Vase made by Gorham & Company of Philadelphia was 5 feet 4 inches across the base, 4 feet 2 inches high and weighed 2000 ounces (125 lbs).

On August 8, Colorado became the 38th State.

The 20 inch Rodman Gun weighed 115,000 pounds and used 200 pounds of gunpowder to throw a 1,080 pound ball. 
 

The Patent Office Exhibit contained: George Washington's camp gear and the pants and coat he wore when he resigned his commission in 1783, General Jackson's blue "swallow-tail" coat worn during the Battle of New Orleans in 1815, and 5,000 patent models.

 
The House of Public Comfort furnished not just wash-rooms but newspapers, postage stamps, magazines, coat room, lunch counter, umbrellas, messenger-boys, telegraph and refreshments. It contained services such as hair-dressers, barber shops and baths. Balderston and Hutton of Philadelphia were the builders. The Centennial Commission, Presidents Office and Press Headquarters were also in the building.

  
Western Electric Manufacturing Company displayed Thomas Edison's Electric Pen and Duplicating Press. It could produce up to 5000 copies at 10 per minute from one stencil. 
 

Hook and Hastings of Boston made the Centennial Organ. It took 5 freight cars to transport the 40 feet tall, 32 feet wide, 21 feet deep, 35 ton organ.

Each State had a special day with events and ceremonies.

In the State Buildings, no political or offensive references could be made regarding the US Civil War.

  
The Ohio House was constructed with stone quarried in each county. And is the only remaining State building still standing today.

Pennsylvania Day (September 28th) had the largest turnout with 274,919 visitors. Pennsylvania had two buildings.

  
On September 9th, a fire destroys buildings and concessions outside the Exhibition grounds. Losses total $50,000.

Memorial Hall, Ohio House, and two small brick public toilet buildings are the only remaining buildings in their original locations.

42 freight cars carried donated Smithsonian exhibits back to Washington, DC.

Agricultural Hall

Architect: James H. Windrim.

Design Style: Gothic.

Builder: Philip Quigley.

Size: 465 feet by 626 feet.

Area: 10.25 acres (236,572 square feet).

Cost: $300,000.

Exhibitors: 10,217 (1,474 US).

Agricultural Hall took over 5 months to complete.

Wooden building resembling a Gothic barn.

Exhibits: Frick Eclipse portable steam engine, 300 varieties of Potatoes,.

Tobacco Exhibits: a cable of "Monitor" tobacco 1 1/2 inches thick and 300 feet long, a tobacco facsimile of the

Liberty Bell, a Moorish chandelier made of twisted tobacco with cigars for candles, 800 different tobacco preparations and 250 brands of plug-tobacco.

Horticultural Hall

Architect: Hermann J Schwarzmann.

Builder: John Rice.

Design Style: Mauresque.

Size: 383 feet long by 193 feet wide and 72 feet high

Area: 1.5 acres.

Total Area: 35 acres.

Cost: $251,937.

Exhibitors: 108 (40 US).

Lighting: Four chandeliers, 60 lights each.

Horticultural Hall took 9 months to complete

Constructed with glass and steel. In other words, a large greenhouse.

Margaret Foley designed the marble fountain.

Foliage: bananas, cacti, chrysanthemum, date palms, eucalyptus, ferns, gladiolus, hyacinths, orange trees, orchids.

One of the few buildings that had central heating.

Exhibits: seeds, gardening implements.

Permanent building, became a Botanical Conservatory after the Exhibition. Demolished in 1955 after hurricane Hazel (1954) blew out most of the glass

Machinery Hall

Architects: Henry Pettit & Joseph Wilson.

Builder: Philip Quigley of Wilmington, Delaware.

Size: 1402 feet long, 360 feet wide.

Area: 14 acres (558,440 square feet).

Cost: $792,000.

Exhibitors: 2,260 (1,606 US).

Machinery Hall took almost 6 months to complete.

Mostly displayed steam and hydraulic power equipment. However, electricity and the internal combustion engine made an appearance.

Bartholdi's Fountain was in front of the building.

The Corliss Engine was the main attraction.

 
General Exhibits: carriage springs, fire trucks, gas fittings, gun barrel rifling, hydraulic pumps, magic lanterns, needle making machinery, mining equipment, printing presses, sewing machines, steam engines, the telegraph, telephone, tools, trains, type-casting machines, typewriters, weighing machines.

Noted Exhibits: Ander's Magneto Printing Telegraph, Baldwin Locomotive, Bell Telephone, Blake Stone Crusher, Brayton Ready Motor (Hydrocarbon Engine), Brick Making Machine, Buckeye Mower-Reaper, Campbell Printing Press, Corliss Engine, Cotton Press, Cray's Automatic Stock Printer, Dexter Hoisting Apparatus, Diamond Tipped Stone Saw, Edison's Telegraph, Electric Burglar Alarm, Electric Thermostats, Electro-Magnetic Mallet (Dentist Drill), Family Electro-Medical Apparatus (Quack Box), Electro-Mercurial Fire Alarm, Grapple Dredging Machine, Gunpowder Pile Driver, "John Bull" Locomotive, Johnston Mower, Krupp Guns, Leadners Telegraph, Lightning Rotary Cylinder Press, Line-Wolf Ammonia Compressor, Lockwood Envelope Machine, a Mechanical Calculator, Otis' Steam Elevator, Roebling Brothers Cable (to be used on the Brooklyn Bridge), Seth Thomas's Clock, Silsby Steam Fire Engine, Six to Twenty Horsepower Stationary Engines, Steam Powered Ice Crusher, Straw Burning Engine, Sugar Cane Mill, Twenty-Six inch wide Woodworth Planer, Wallace-Farmer Electromagnetic Generator, Wallpaper Printing Press.

Fire Equipment: Carbolized Fire Hose, Chemical Fire Engines, Folding Ladder Fire Escape for Buildings, Hook and Ladder Truck, La France Rotary Steam Fire Engine, Portable Chemical Fire Extinguishers and a 3 foot by 2 1/2 foot miniature Steam Engine by Henry Gaunt.

Main Exhibit Building

Architects: Pettit and Joseph Wilson.

Builder: Richard Dobbins.

Size: 1876 feet long, 464 feet wide.

Area: 21.5 acres.

Cost: $1,600,000.

Exhibitors: 13,720 exhibitors from over 37 countries. 
 

Ventilation: Louvre windows.

The 672 iron columns weighed 2,200,000 pounds.

The roof-truss and girders weighed 5,000,000 pounds.

35 miles of transepts and aisles. 

5 miles of avenues.

Main Exhibition Hall took almost 8 months to complete.

Exhibits: electric light, the typewriter, the telephone, an automatic baby feeder. Also exhibited was a Dental Engine that works on foot-power, electricity, water or steam. 
 

Was the largest building at the Exhibition and in the world.

More than half the population of Philadelphia could be placed within its walls at one time.

Memorial Hall

Architect: Hermann J Schwarzmann.

Builder: RJ Dobbins.

Size: 365 feet long, 210 feet wide and 59 feet high.

Area: 1.5 acres (87,990 square feet).

Cost: $1,500,000.

Memorial Hall took almost 18 months to complete. 
 

The dome over the rotunda contained a colossal bell, with the figure of Columbia. All the exterior statuary were cast in zinc and designed by Mueller.

Was 122 feet above and overlooking the level of the Schuylkill River. 
 

Most Popular Painting: The Marriage of HRH the Prince of Wales by WP Frith.

Funded by the City of Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

The building was made of granite and was meant to be a permanent structure. It later become a model for many European public buildings. 
 

Exhibits: over 3,200 paintings and drawings, 627 sculptures, 431 works of applied art, and nearly 3000 groups of photographs .

Designed as a permanent structure, Memorial Hall underwent extensive renovations in 2008 ($43 million) and opened in October to accommodate The Please Touch Museum

Peter Rothermel's painting of the Battle of Gettysburg. The huge 32 foot by 16 3/4 foot painting is now at The State Museum in Harrisburg.

Government Building

Architect: James Windrim.

Builder: Aaron Doan & Company.

Area: 83,640 square feet.

Cost: $62,000.

Construction: Wood. Built in the shape of a cross.

Appropriation: $505,000.

Represented: Agricultural Bureau, Department of Navy, Department of Interior, Department of War, Post-office, Smithsonian Institute and the US Treasury.

Exhibits: astronomical images, Gatling Machine Guns, Hotchkiss Revolving Cannon, Indian teepees, models of lighthouses, mounted fish, navigation devices, patent models, rare crystalline minerals, stuffed and mounted wildlife, the 20 inch Rodman Gun. 
 

Noted Exhibits: Ben Franklin's Postmaster Account Ledger, Railway mail-catcher, Ericsson Torpedo, Gatling Guns, Howitzers, De Brame Gun, Martini Henry Breech-Loader, Springfield Rifle, Dahlgren Gun, Pikes taken from the wreck of the Monitor "Keokuk".

Naval Exhibit: The Armor, Cutlass and Helmet that John Paul Jones wore on the Bon Homme Richard.

Flags in the US Naval Exhibit: Old Pine Tree, Grand Union and National Flags of 1776, 1777, 1795, 1815, 1818 and 1876.

Stuffed Animals: Beaver, Bison, Deer, Elk, Ferrets, Foxes, Grizzly Bear, Jaguars, Marmots, Moose, Ocelots, Polar Bear, Porcupines, Prairie Dogs, Pumas, Rabbits, Squirrels and Wolverines.

 
United States Government Building exhibits were supervised by the Smithsonian. Items donated after the Exhibition comprised the bulk of the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum. Items can still be seen in the Arts and Industries Building.

Women’s Pavilion

Architect: H J Schwarzmann.

Style: Alto-Relievo (?).

Builders: Jacob Peters and John Burger of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Area: 30,000 square feet.

Cost: $40,000.

Pavilions (4): 48 feet square each.

The Woman's Pavilion came into being as a result of a group of women being denied permission to exhibit in the Exhibition Building.

Mrs. Elizabeth Duane Gillespie assembled 13 Philadelphia woman and set out to promote the skill and talent of women. Mrs. Gillespie was the great-granddaughter of Benjamin Franklin.

Had a kindergarten located in the Gothic School Building. Sixteen children were selected from the Home for Friendless Children in Philadelphia. Classes were 2 hours and 15 minutes long and held 3 times a week.

The New Century for Women, the official publication of the Women’s Centennial Committee, was published using a steam printing press in the building. The steam engine was operated by a woman, Emma Allison.

Women’s Day was celebrated on November 7th, Election Day. Because in 1876, women couldn't vote. It give them something to celebrate while their husbands were voting.

It rained on Woman's Day, but that didn't stop 87,859 people from attending.

 
Mrs. Brooks of Arkansas created a bust of "Lolanthe", using used two spoon-like tools, in butter.

 
In a demonstration on Oct 14th, she made another bust in 1 hour and 15 minutes. The face was created using broom straws, butter paddles, camel-hair pencils and cedar sticks. It sat on a tin frame over ice to keep it from melting.

Displays included 74 inventions by women.

Exhibits: blanket washer, dress elevators, flowers made from fish-scales, a frame for stretching curtains, improved darner, improved flower stand, a life-preserving mattress for steam-boats (life preserver), lunch heater, Martha Washington's slippers, a model house made from interlocking bricks, night signaling device, window fasteners and a whistle made from a pigs tail.

The life-preserving mattress invented by Mrs. Mountain of New York.

Women’s suffrage was not mentioned in the exhibit.

After The Exposition

On December 1, 1876, most of the Exhibition buildings were auctioned.

Agricultural Hall was salvaged for the lumber. Some of the wood was used to build homes, a railroad station and a 900-foot-long bridge over Wreck Pond Inlet in Spring Lake, New Jersey. Today baseball fields cover the ground.

 
The American Soldier sculpture that stood outside Machinery Hall is now in Antietam Battlefield.  Bartholdi's Fountain of Water and Light was moved to the Botanic Garden in Washington, DC.

The Catalog Building became a railroad station for the Pennsylvania Railroad in Strafford (outside of Philadelphia). It's currently under renovation.

The Catholic Total Abstinence Fountain still remains in it's original location.

Horticultural Hall survived as a conservatory until Hurricane Hazel hit in 1954. It was demolished in 1955. The only remainders were the two adjoining brick public toilet facilities. A new Horticultural Center was built in 1973.

 
The Krupp Guns were given to the Sultan of Turkey in a move to increase sales.

Machinery Hall was used to store some of the smaller buildings dismantled after the Exhibition. It remained to at least 1879. Today a small lake occupies the area.

Margaret Foley's Fountain still stands in the Horticultural Center.

Main Exhibition Building was sold for $250,000. It reopened in May 1877, and for two years it continued as an International Exhibition. The Park service complained about some of the exhibits, and it was closed in 1879. The building was demolished in 1881.

The largest Observation Tower found a home in Coney Island, New York.

The Ohio State Building is one of only two buildings remaining on it's original location (Memorial Hall being the other). It became the Fairmount Park Information Center, and is in operation today as a restaurant called Centennial Cafe.

  
The Swedish School House became an indoor puppet theatre in Central Park, New York.

With Fairmount Park restored to parkland filled with trees, grass, and shrubs, much as you see in this photo, it's hard to imagine

that the Centennial Exposition of 1876 covering over 300 acres once occupied this very spot, and beyond.

Photos of the last remaining buildings and structures from the Exposition still in existence today

Memorial Hall, formerly known as the Art Gallery at the time of the 1876 Exposition

Housed inside Memorial Hall is a 3-dimensional model of the exposition of 1876.  Measuring 20 X 40 feet, the model depicts  trees, people, monorail, steamboat ferries, and scores of buildings, all in intricate detail.

Memorial Hall underwent extensive renovations and opened in October 2008 to accommodate Please Touch Museum - a perfect place for playful minds of all ages

When in Philadelphia, this is a 'must see' place to visit - here's the website: http://www.pleasetouchmuseum.org/

The fun begins even before you go inside!

A new extension at the Please Touch Museum houses the Dentzel Carousel.  

Originally located in Woodside Park, Philadelphia, the carousel was crafted in 1908 by the Dentzel Carousel Company of

Philadelphia, and after more than 40 years in storage, returns to its hometown to bring joy to new generations.

Statues of Pegasus in front of Memorial Hall

The view today, across from Memorial Hall, where the Exposition's Main Exhibit Building (1,800 X 464 feet) was located

The Catholc Total Abstinence Fountain today, originally located in the forecourt at one end of Machinery Hall (1,402 X 360 feet)

Ohio House, the only remaining state building out of the 24 State Buildings erected for the Exposition