Machinery Hall, Centennial Exposition 1876, Philadelphia Essays

Machinery Hall, Centennial Exposition 1876, PhiladelphiaThe International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures, and Products of the Soil and Mine, in the city of Philadelphia was opened on the 10th day of May in the category 1876. As it was more commonly known, the Centennial Exposition was Americas first successful Worlds Fair. The fair celebrated the one hundred year anniversary of the Declaration of freedom and Americas start as a sovereign nation. It was at the Centennial Fair that Americans were given a chance to display their knowledge and power in the maturation industrialized world.Long gone were the days of single-structure exhibitions. The Philadelphia organizers peppered Fairmont Park with exhibition buildings and attractions, giving visitors much to look at. At the fair the United States sought to establish itself among the major(ip) countries of the world. The major buildings of the fair Memorial Hall, the Main Building, Machinery Hall, Horticultural Hall, the Womens Pavi lion and several national and state pavilions provided a suitable architectural framework for the exhibited materials. The most favourite of these buildings was Machinery Hall, built to house the countrys technological wonders of the past century (Snyder).Machinery Hall, four times the space of St. Peters in Rome (Bruce, 150) covered an area of 558,440 square feet (including its annex). Fairmont Park was at the time the largest and finest urban park in America (Mass, 16). After selecting the site for the fair, the Centennial Commission held a competition for the design of the exhibition buildings offering awards to the stature ten entries. The first prize was given to Collins & Autenrieth of Philadelphia whose design estimated construction ... ...usiasts to see what it was like to visit the fair first hand. Though these images are not always completely historically correct, they serve as an excellent tool for learning about the fairs.BibliographyBruce, Edward C. The Century Its F ruits and its Festival. Philadelphia J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1877.Maass, illusion. The glorious enterprise the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 and H. J. Schwarzmann, architect-in-chief / John Maass. New York. American Life Foundation. 1973.Snyder, Iris. (February 2000) The Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, 1876 University of Delaware, Special Collections Department http//www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits/fairs/cent.htm(25 February, 2001).Trout, Silas E. The Story of the Centennial of 1876. Lancaster, 1929. ARCH SPCEXP T825.B1T7Westcott, Thompson. A Centennial Portfolio. Philadelphia, T. Hunter, 1876.