What was the name of Philadelphia’s 1926 world’s fair celebrating the 150th anniversary of U.S. independence?

Philadelphia’s 1926 world’s fair celebrating the 150th anniversary of U.S. independence was the Sesquicentennial Exposition.

The Sesquicentennial International Exposition opened in Philadelphia on May 31, 1926. Its main purpose was to mark 150 years since the Declaration of Independence, while also commemorating the 50th anniversary of Philadelphia’s 1876 Centennial Exposition. The event was therefore a midpoint between the centennial and bicentennial celebrations.

The fair included national and international exhibits, an enormous illuminated replica of the Liberty Bell, the Curtis Organ, amusement attractions, and Sesqui-Centennial Stadium. Thirty foreign nations participated. The grounds were in South Philadelphia, an area that later became associated with major sports venues and public parks.

The word “sesquicentennial” means a 150th anniversary, not a 250th anniversary. America250 follows the sequence of these earlier commemorations: centennial in 1876, sesquicentennial in 1926, bicentennial in 1976, and semiquincentennial in 2026. The 1926 exposition also differed from the 1876 fair because it drew less favorable financial results and was later remembered as a troubled world’s fair.