The Panama–Pacific International Exposition was a World Fair held in San Francisco, California, USA, from February 20 to December 4, 1915. Its stated aim was to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal, but the city was widely seen as an opportunity to demonstrate its recovery from the earthquake of 1906. It was the largest world’s fair held on the Pacific Coast before World War I. The fair was built on a site along the northern coast, between the Presidio and Fort Mason, now known as the Marina District, on 636 acres (1 sq. mi., 2.6 km2).
Exhibits and Themes
The exposition displays included the C. P. Huntington Southern Pacific Railroad’s first steam locomotive to be purchased, and then statically displayed at the Sacramento State Railroad Museum in California. A telephone line was established nationwide to listen to the Pacific Ocean. The Liberty Bell travelled by train from Pennsylvania to Philadelphia for the Exhibition.
The 1915 American Grand Prize and the Vanderbilt Cup car races were held on February 27 and March 6 on a 3,84-mile (6,18 km) circuit around the Exhibition grounds. The Smithsonian Institution also held an exhibition at the Exhibition.
Sources
Smith, S. L. (2015). Empress San Francisco: The Pacific Rim, the Great West and California at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition by Abigail M. Markwyn. American Studies, 54(2), 115–116. https://doi.org/10.1353/ams.2015.0058
Wikipedia contributors. (2020, November 29). Panama–Pacific International Exposition. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 03:18, January 11, 2021, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Panama%E2%80%93Pacific_International_Exposition&oldid=991251352
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