Philadelphia hosted the 1876 Centennial Exposition, an earlier major United States anniversary celebration.
Officially called the International Exhibition of Arts, Manufactures and Products of the Soil and Mine, the exposition marked the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. It occupied much of Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park and attracted visitors to displays of technology, industry, agriculture, and culture.
Philadelphia was a particularly meaningful location because the city had hosted the Second Continental Congress and the adoption of the Declaration in 1776. The exposition therefore linked America’s industrial ambitions with its revolutionary past. Landmark exhibits included the Corliss steam engine and early public demonstrations of inventions and products.
The centennial is not the same as the 1926 sesquicentennial exposition or the nationwide bicentennial observances of 1976. All three celebrations used Philadelphia’s founding associations, but they belonged to different anniversary milestones. America250 continues that longer tradition of commemorating the Declaration at 50-year and 100-year intervals.