Philadelphia hosted the 1926 Sesquicentennial Exposition celebrating 150 years of American independence.
The exposition commemorated the sesquicentennial, or 150th anniversary, of the Declaration of Independence. It was held in Philadelphia because the city had hosted the Second Continental Congress in 1776 and was the location of the declaration’s adoption at the Pennsylvania State House, now Independence Hall.
The fair occupied a large area in South Philadelphia and featured exhibition buildings, amusement attractions, and displays from states and foreign countries. Its centerpiece was the Sesqui-Centennial Stadium, later renamed John F. Kennedy Stadium.
The exposition was less financially successful than Philadelphia’s 1876 Centennial Exposition, but it remains an important link in the sequence of American anniversary observances. It preceded the nationwide Bicentennial celebrations of 1976 by fifty years and America250 by a century.