The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Centennial Exhibition, International
held in Philadelphia from May to Nov., 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The buildings, in Fairmount Park, included the Main Building, covering 20 acres (8 hectares), Machinery Hall, Agricultural Hall, Horticultural Hall, and Memorial Hall, many state buildings, and buildings of 37 foreign countries. The total number of persons attending in 159 days was almost 10 million. This was the first of a series of world’s fairs that the United States was to hold, and it set a high standard, exhibiting in graphic manner the technical advances and industrial growth of the nation. Memorial Hall, a Renaissance structure of granite, became part of the Pennsylvania Museum of Art.
