Editing Centennial Exposition (section)

==Structures==
[[File:International Exhibition map-The Adams & Westlake non explosive oil stove. No. 2 Stove - The Adams & Westlake Stove for 1882 is a complete change from all former patterns. (back).jpg|thumb|Map of the exposition complex in [[Philadelphia]]]]
More than 200 buildings were constructed within the exposition's grounds, which were surrounded by a fence nearly three miles long.{{sfnp|Beers|1982|p=464}} There were five main buildings in the exposition. They were the Main Exhibition Building, Memorial Hall, Machinery Hall, Agricultural Hall, and Horticultural Hall. Apart from these buildings, there were separate buildings for state, federal, foreign, corporate, and public comfort buildings. This strategy of numerous buildings in one exposition set it apart from the previous fairs around the world that had relied exclusively on having one or a few large buildings.

The Centennial Commission sponsored a [[Architectural design competition|design competition]] for the principal buildings, conducted in two rounds; winners of the first round had to have details such as construction cost and time prepared for the runoff on September 20, 1873. After the ten design winners were chosen, it was determined that none of them allowed enough time for construction and limited finances.{{citation needed|date = November 2015}}

The architecture of the exposition mainly consisted of two types of building, traditional masonry monuments and buildings with a structural framework of iron and steel.

=== Main Exhibition Building ===
[[File:MainBuilding.jpg|thumb|The main exhibition building; at 21½ acres, it was the largest building in world history at the time.]]
[[File:1876FairMainBldgGrandStandW.jpg|thumb|The interior of the main exhibition building looking west from the grandstand]]
The Centennial Commission turned to third-place winner's architect Henry Pettit and engineer [[Wilson Brothers & Company|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 by area, enclosing {{cvt|21.5|acre|m2}}.{{sfnp|Beers|1982|p=462}} It measured {{cvt|464|feet|m}} in width and {{cvt|1880|feet|m}} in length.

It was constructed using [[Prefabrication|prefabricated]] parts, with a wood and iron frame resting on a substructure of 672 stone piers. Wrought iron roof trusses were supported by the columns of the superstructure.

The building took eighteen months to complete and cost $1,580,000. The building was surrounded by portals on all four sides. The east entrance of the building was used as an access way for carriages, and the south entrance of the building served as a primary entrance to the building for streetcars. The north side related the building to the Art Gallery and the west side served as a passageway to the Machinery and Agricultural Halls.

In the Main Exhibition Building, columns were placed at a uniform distance of {{cvt|24|feet|m}}. The entire structure consisted of 672 columns, the shortest column {{cvt|23|feet|m}} in length and the longest {{cvt|125|feet|m}} in length. The construction included red and black brick-laid design with stained glass or painted glass decorations. The Interior walls were whitewashed, and woodwork was decorated with shades of green, crimson, blue, and gold. The flooring of the building was made of wooden planks that rested directly on the ground without any air space underneath them.

The orientation of the building was east–west in direction, making it well lit, and glass was used between the frames to let in light. Skylights were set over the central aisles of the structure. The corridors of the building were separated by fountains that were attractive and also provided cooling.

The structure of the building featured a central avenue with a series of parallel sheds that were {{cvt|120|ft|m}} wide, {{cvt|1832|ft|m}} long, and {{cvt|75|ft|m}} high. It was the longest nave ever introduced into an exhibition building up to that time. On both sides of the nave were avenues {{cvt|100|feet|m}} in width and {{cvt|1832|feet|m}} in length. Aisles {{cvt|48|feet|m}} wide were located between the nave and the side avenues, and smaller aisles {{cvt|24|feet|m}} in width were on the outer sides of the building.

The exterior of the building featured four towers, each {{cvt|75|feet|m}} high, at each of the building's corners. These towers had small balconies at different heights that served as observation galleries.

Within the building, exhibits were arranged in a grid, in a dual arrangement of type and national origin. Exhibits from the United States were placed in the center of the building, and foreign exhibits were arranged around the center, based on the nation's distance from the United States. Exhibits inside the Main Exhibition Building dealt with [[mining]], [[metallurgy]], [[manufacturing]], education, and science.<ref>''Philadelphia's 1876 Centennial Exhibition'', pp. 29–30</ref> Offices for foreign commissioners were placed in proximity to the products exhibited along in the aisles along the sides of the building. The walkways leading to the exit doors were ten feet wide.

After the Exposition, the structure was turned into a permanent building for the International Exhibition. During the auction held on December 1, 1876, it was bought for $250,000. It quickly ran into financial difficulties but remained open through 1879 and was finally demolished in 1881.

=== Agricultural Hall ===
The third-largest structure at the exposition was Agricultural Hall. Designed by [[James H. Windrim]], Agricultural Hall was {{cvt|820|ft|m}} long and {{cvt|540|ft|m}} wide. Made of wood and glass, the building was designed to look like various [[barn]] structures pieced together. The building's exhibits included products and machines used in [[agriculture]] and other related businesses.<ref>''Philadelphia's 1876 Centennial Exhibition'', pp. 85–86</ref>

=== Horticultural Hall ===
[[File:Horticultural Hall, from Robert N. Dennis collection of stereoscopic views 3.jpg|thumb|A stereoscopic view of Horticultural Hall (1875–76, demolished 1954) in [[Philadelphia]], now part of the Robert N. Dennis Collection at [[New York Public Library]]]]
Situated high atop a hill presiding over Fountain Avenue, Horticultural Hall epitomized floral achievement, which attracted professional and amateur gardeners. Unlike the other main buildings, it was meant to be permanent. Horticultural Hall had an iron and glass frame on a brick and marble foundation and was {{cvt|383|ft|m}} long, {{cvt|193|ft|m}} wide, and {{cvt|68|ft|m}} tall.<ref>''Philadelphia's 1876 Centennial Exhibition'', p. 95</ref> The building was designed in the [[Moorish architecture|Moorish style]] and intended as a tribute to the [[The Crystal Palace|Crystal Palace]] of [[London]]'s [[The Great Exhibition|Great Exhibition]] of 1851.

Inside, nurserymen, florists, and landscape architects exhibited a variety of tropical plants, garden equipment, and garden plans. In dramatic fashion, the exposition introduced the general public to the notion of landscape design, as exemplified the building itself and the grounds surrounding it. A long, sunken parterre leading to Horticultural Hall became the exposition's iconic floral feature, reproduced on countless postcards and other memorabilia. This sunken garden enabled visitors on the raised walkways to see the patterns and shapes of the flowerbeds. After the Exposition, the building continued to be used for horticultural exhibits until it was severely damaged by [[Hurricane Hazel]] in 1954 and was subsequently demolished.{{sfnp|Beers|1982|p=464}} As a replacement, the [[The Horticulture Center (Philadelphia)|Fairmount Park Horticulture Center]] was built on the site in 1976 as part of the [[United States Bicentennial]] exposition.

=== Machinery Hall ===
[[File:Machhall.jpg|thumb|Machinery Hall]]
Designed by Joseph M. Wilson and Henry Pettit, Machinery Hall was the second largest structure in the exposition and located west of the Main Exhibition Building. With a superstructure made of wood and glass resting on a foundation of massive masonry, it had a main hall painted light blue, {{cvt|1402|ft|m}} long and {{cvt|360|ft|m}} wide, with a wing of {{cvt|208|ft|m}} by {{cvt|210|ft|m}} attached on the south side of the building. The length of the building was 18 times its height. With eight entrances, it occupied {{cvt|558,440|sqft|sqm}}, had 1,900 exhibitors, and took six months to construct. The exhibits focused on machines and evolving industries.<ref>''Philadelphia's 1876 Centennial Exhibition'', p. 67</ref> Machinery Hall was the show case for the state of the art industrial technology that was being produced at the time. The United States of America alone took up two-thirds of the exhibit space in the building.

One of the major attractions on display in the building was the [[Corliss steam engine#Centennial Engine|Corliss Centennial Steam Engine]] that ran power to all the machinery in the building as well as other parts of the world's fair. The 1,400 horsepower engine was {{cvt|45|ft|m}} tall, weighed 650 tons, and had {{cvt|1|mi|km|adj=on}} of overhead line belts connecting to the machinery in the building. It symbolized the technology that was transforming the United States into an industrial powerhouse.

Amenities available to the visitors within the hall were rolling chairs, telegraph offices, and dinner for fifty cents. Machinery Hall had 8,000 operating machines and was filled with a wide assortment of hand tools, machine tools, material handling equipment, and the latest fastener technology.

Some of the sandstone that was used to build the hall was from [[Curwensville, Pennsylvania]].

=== Memorial Hall ===
[[File:Memorial Hall Phila.jpg|thumb|Memorial Hall]]
[[File:Edward L.Wilson and W.Irving Adams, Italian Dept. Memorial Hall Annex.jpg|thumb|The Italian Department of Memorial Hall Annex]]
The Art Gallery building (now known as [[Memorial Hall (Philadelphia)|Memorial Hall]]) is the only large exhibit building still standing on the exposition site. Constructed of brick, glass, iron, and granite in the [[Beaux-Arts architecture|beaux-arts style]], it was the largest art hall in the country when it opened, with a massive {{cvt|1.5|acre|ha|adj=on}} footprint and a {{cvt|150|ft|m|adj=on}} dome atop a {{cvt|59|ft|m|adj=on}}-high structure. The central domed area is surrounded by four pavilions on the corners, with open arcades to the east and west of the main entrance. It provided {{cvt|75,000|sqft|sqm}} of wall surface for paintings and {{cvt|20,000|sqft|sqm}} of floor space for sculptures. The exposition received so many art contributions that a separate annex was built to house them all. Another structure was built for the display of [[photography]].<ref>''Philadelphia's 1876 Centennial Exhibition'', pp. 101–103.</ref>

Memorial Hall was designed by Herman J. Schwarzmann, who basically adopted an art museum plan submitted by Nicholas Félix Escalier to the {{Lang|fr|[[Prix de Rome]]|italic=no}} competition in 1867–69. Memorial Hall became the prototype, both from a stylistic and organizational standpoint, for other museums such as the [[Art Institute of Chicago]] (1892–1893), the [[Milwaukee Public Museum]] (1893–1897), the [[Brooklyn Museum]] (1893–1924), and the [[Detroit Institute of Art]] (1920–1927). Libraries such as the [[Library of Congress]], the [[New York Public Library]], and the [[Free Library of Philadelphia]] also emulated its form. Finally, Memorial Hall was the architectural inspiration for the German capitol, the [[Reichstag building#History|Reichstag building]] in Berlin.<ref>Filler, Martin, ''Makers of Modern Architecture'', Volume 1, New York: The New York Review of Books, 2007, {{ISBN|978-1-59017-227-8}}, p. 226</ref>

After the exposition, Memorial Hall reopened in 1877 as the Pennsylvania Museum of Art and included the Pennsylvania Museum School of Industrial Art. In 1928 the museum moved to Fairmount at the head of the Benjamin Franklin Parkway, and in 1938 was renamed the [[Philadelphia Museum of Art]]. Memorial Hall continued to house the school, and afterward was taken over by the Fairmount Park Commission in 1958.<ref>''Philadelphia's 1876 Centennial Exhibition'', p. 105</ref> The museum school is now the [[University of the Arts (Philadelphia)|University of the Arts]]. Used for a time as a police station, the building now houses the [[Please Touch Museum]],{{sfnp|Beers|1982|p=462}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pleasetouchmuseum.org/memorial_hall_update/ |title=Memorial Hall Update |access-date=2007-01-17 |last=Resinger |first=Kelly |publisher=Please Touch Museum |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206165647/http://www.pleasetouchmuseum.org/memorial_hall_update/ |archive-date=2007-02-06}}</ref> which includes a faithful 20x30-foot model of the exposition grounds and 200 buildings.

=== Women's Pavilion ===
[[File:Woman's pavilion, by Centennial Photographic Co.RHS.jpg|thumb|The Women's Pavilion]]
The Women's Pavilion was the first structure at an international exposition to highlight the work of women, with exhibits created and operated by women. Female organizers drew upon deep-rooted traditions of separatism and sorority in planning, fundraising, and managing a pavilion devoted entirely to the artistic and industrial pursuits of their gender. They had to build their own structure because they lost their spot in one of the larger pavilions (the Main Building) due to an unexpected increase in the participation of foreign countries. Their aim was to employ only women in the construction of the pavilion and even to power it, and they succeeded with the exception of the design by Hermann J. Schwarzmann. Their overarching goal was to advance women's social, economic, and legal standing, abolish restrictions discriminating against their gender, encourage sexual harmony, and gain influence, leverage, and freedom for all women in and outside of the home by increasing women's confidence and ability to choose.

A project of the Women's Centennial Executive Committee, the Women's Pavilion was commissioned in 1873 by the United States Centennial Board of Finance with the expectation that it would generate enthusiasm for the celebration of the fair and increase subscriptions to exposition stock. Elizabeth Duane Gillespie, president of the Women's Centennial Committee, led the effort to gather 82,000 signatures in two days to raise money for the pavilion. Gillespie also helped convince Congress to grant additional funding. It took only four months to raise the funds for the pavilion.

Much of the pavilion was devoted to [[Human ecology#Connection to home economics|human ecology]] and [[home economics]]. On exhibit were over 80 patented inventions, including a reliance stove, a hand attachment for sewing machines, a dishwasher, a fountain griddle-greaser, [[Mary Florence Potts|a heating iron with removable handle]], a frame for stretching and drying lace curtains, and a stocking and glove darner. The Centennial women not only showed domestic production but also employed a popular means for justifying female autonomy outside of the home by demonstrating to visitors the many ways women were making a profitable living. Exhibits demonstrated positive achievements and women's influence in domains such as industrial and fine arts (wood-carvings, furniture-making, and ceramics), fancy articles (clothing and woven goods), and philanthropy as well as philosophy, science, medicine, education, and literature.

Mexico participated in the pavilion's exhibits, indicating the growth of a sector of elite women during the [[Porfirio Díaz]] regime of the late nineteenth century, with many individual women sending examples of woven textiles and embroidery.<ref>Mauricio Tenorio-Trillo, ''Mexico at the World's Fairs: Crafting a Nation''. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press 1996, p. 25.</ref>

=== Other buildings ===
[[File:A573, Ohio House, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 2017.jpg|thumb|The [[Ohio House (Philadelphia)|Ohio House]], one of four exposition buildings remaining in [[Fairmount Park]]; the others are [[Memorial Hall (Philadelphia)|Memorial Hall]] and two [[Centennial comfort stations|comfort stations]].]]

Eleven nations had their own exhibition buildings, and others contributed small structures, including the Swedish School house referenced below, now in [[Central Park]], New York City. The British buildings were extensive and exhibited the evolved bicycle, with tension spokes and a large front wheel. Two English manufacturers, Bayless Thomas and Rudge, displayed their high-wheel bikes (called "ordinary bikes" or "penny farthings") at the exposition. The bicycle displays inspired [[Albert Augustus Pope]] to begin making high-wheel bikes in the United States. He started the Columbia Bike Company and published a journal called "[[League of American Wheelmen|LAW]] Bulletin and Good Roads", which was the beginning of the [[Good Roads Movement]].{{citation needed|date = November 2015}}. The main British building, also known as St. George's Hall or the English Commission Building, survived at its original site as [[Fairmount Park]] offices until it was demolished in 1961.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/pa/pa0900/pa0943/data/pa0943data.pdf |title=International Exhibition of 1876 |access-date=March 9, 2021 |archive-date=September 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210927201124/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/master/pnp/habshaer/pa/pa0900/pa0943/data/pa0943data.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

26 of the 37 U.S. states<!-- source is manual count at our [[U.S. State]] --> constructed buildings along States Drive in the exhibition grounds. Only three such state houses are still extant: the [[Ohio House (Philadelphia)|Ohio House]] at its original location in Fairmount Park,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fairmountpark.org/OhioHouse.asp |title=Ohio House |access-date=2012-01-19 |publisher=Philadelphia Parks & Recreation: Fairmount Park |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120126034423/http://www.fairmountpark.org/OhioHouse.asp |archive-date=2012-01-26}}</ref> the Maryland House, which was moved to [[Druid Hill Park]] in [[Baltimore]], where it is extant today,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://explore.baltimoreheritage.org/items/show/589 |title=The Maryland Building |access-date=March 9, 2021 |archive-date=November 30, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130083727/https://explore.baltimoreheritage.org/items/show/589 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the Missouri House, which was moved to [[Spring Lake, New Jersey]], along with several other exhibition buildings, some of which are still extant in various [[Jersey Shore]] towns.<ref name=prial>Frank J. Prial (July 15, 1976). [https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/15/archives/buildings-from-1876-centennial-live-on-in-spring-lake-nj-1876.html "Buildings From 1876 Centennial Live On in Spring Lake, N.J."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330083700/https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/15/archives/buildings-from-1876-centennial-live-on-in-spring-lake-nj-1876.html |date=March 30, 2018 }}. ''nytimes.com''. ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved March 10, 2019.</ref>

The [[Federal government of the United States|United States government]] had a cross-shaped building that held exhibits from various government departments. The remaining structures were corporate exhibitions, administration buildings, restaurants, and other buildings designed for public comfort.<ref>''Philadelphia's 1876 Centennial Exhibition'', p. 109.</ref>