Memorial Hall served as the art gallery at Philadelphia’s 1876 Centennial Exposition, a predecessor anniversary celebration to America250.
Designed by Herman J. Schwarzmann, Memorial Hall was built in West Fairmount Park for the exposition marking the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Its Beaux-Arts design used brick, glass, iron, and granite, and its large domed structure provided space for paintings and sculpture.
The 1876 exposition included more than 200 buildings, but Memorial Hall is the only major exhibition structure from the event still standing. After the fair closed, it reopened in 1877 as the museum portion of the Pennsylvania Museum and School of Industrial Art. That institution eventually became associated with the Philadelphia Museum of Art.
Memorial Hall is sometimes confused with the Main Exhibition Building, Machinery Hall, or Horticultural Hall, which served different exhibition purposes. Today, Memorial Hall houses the Please Touch Museum and remains a surviving physical link to the United States’ first centennial celebration.