Philadelphia hosted the 1876 Centennial Exposition remembered during America250 planning.
The exposition commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and was held in Philadelphia from May 10 to November 10, 1876. It was the first official world’s fair held in the United States and attracted visitors to displays of industry, science, agriculture and culture.
Fairmount Park hosted much of the event. Notable structures included Memorial Hall, which survives as part of the Please Touch Museum, and the massive Main Exhibition Building. The exposition helped present the United States as an industrial and technological power during its centennial year.
Philadelphia was a natural setting because the city was central to the revolutionary story. The Declaration had been adopted at Independence Hall in 1776, and the city later hosted the Constitutional Convention. America250 planning often looks back to the Centennial Exposition as an earlier national anniversary model.