Fairmount Park hosted the 1876 Centennial Exposition, the major predecessor to America250 celebrations.
The exposition occupied grounds in West Fairmount Park along the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia. It ran from May 10 to November 10, 1876, as the United States marked the centennial of the Declaration of Independence.
Fairmount Park gave the event room for enormous exhibition buildings, landscaped grounds, transportation connections, and displays from states, companies, and foreign countries. Major structures included Memorial Hall, Machinery Hall, Agricultural Hall, and Horticultural Hall.
The exposition’s location is sometimes confused with Independence Hall, where the Declaration was adopted and is closely associated with the 1776 anniversary. Independence Hall was in central Philadelphia; the fairgrounds were several miles away in Fairmount Park. Memorial Hall is the best-known major surviving structure from the exposition.