Philadelphia hosted the Sesqui-Centennial International Exposition for America’s 150th anniversary in 1926.
The exposition took place in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a city with exceptional importance in the American founding story. The Declaration of Independence was debated and adopted there, and Independence Hall remains one of the best-known sites associated with the document.
The 1926 fair commemorated the 150th anniversary of the Declaration’s adoption and also looked back to Philadelphia’s earlier Centennial Exposition of 1876. It included exhibition buildings, industrial displays, cultural attractions, and technological demonstrations intended to present the country’s progress.
The exposition is often called the Sesquicentennial Exposition. “Sesquicentennial” means a 150-year anniversary, just as “semiquincentennial” means 250 years. Philadelphia’s role in both the founding era and the 1926 commemoration makes it a natural historical reference point for America250.