Centennial Exposition - Structures

Structures

More than 200 buildings were constructed within the Exposition's grounds, which were surrounded by a fence nearly three miles long. The Centennial Commission sponsored a 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 four design winners were chosen, it was determined that none of them allowed enough time for construction and limited finances.

The Centennial Commission turned to architect Henry Pettit and engineer 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 21.5 acres (8.7 ha). It was constructed using prefabricated parts, with a wood and iron frame resting on 672 stone piers, and took eighteen months to complete. Glass was used between the frames to let in light. Inside, the central avenue was 120 ft (37 m) wide, 1,832 ft (558 m) long, and 75 ft (23 m) high. A 75-foot-tall (23 m) tower stood at each of the building's corners. 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 Building dealt with mining, metallurgy, manufacturing, education and science.

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. There was a 208 ft (63 m) by 210 ft (64 m) wing attached on the south side of the building. Exhibits displayed at Machinery Hall revolved around machines and industry.

The third largest structure at the Centennial was Agricultural Hall. Designed by James Windrim, Agricultural Hall was 820 ft (250 m) long and 540 ft (160 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 in agriculture and other related businesses.

Unlike most of the buildings constructed for the Exposition, Horticultural Hall was meant to be permanent. Horticultural Hall was designed by Herman J. Schwarzmann, an engineer for the Fairmount Park Commission, who 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 was demolished.

Also designed by Herman J. Schwarzmann, the only exhibit building to survive on the Centennial site, the Art Gallery building (now known as Memorial Hall) is made of brick, glass, iron and granite. Memorial Hall was designed in the beaux-arts style and housed the art exhibits. The Centennial received so many art contributions a separate annex was built to house them all. Another building was built for the display of photography.

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. The museum school is now the University of the Arts. The building was later used as a police station and has now been renovated to house the Please Touch Museum.

The British buildings were extensive and among other things showed to America the evolved bicycle with Tension Spokes and a large front wheel. Two English manufacturers displayed their high wheel bikes (called "Ordinary bikes" or slang "penny farthings") at the Exposition: Bayless Thomas and Rudge. It was these displays that caused Col. A. Pope to decide to begin making high wheel bikes in the USA. He started the Columbia Bike Company and within a few years was publishing a journal "LAW Bulletin and Good Roads". This was the beginning of the Good Roads Movement.

Eleven nations beside the U.S. had their own exhibition buildings. So did 26 of the 37 U.S. states. (Ohio House alone survives.) The United States government had a cross-shaped building that held exhibits from various government departments. The Women's Pavilion was the first structure at an international exposition devoted to showing off the work of women. The rest of the structures at the Centennial were corporate exhibitions, administration buildings, restaurants, and other buildings designed for public comfort.