Philadelphia's 1876 Centennial Exhibition by Linda P. Gross

Author:Linda P. Gross
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
Published: 2011-10-17T16:00:00+00:00

J. L. MOTT’S FOUNTAIN. The iron fountain created by the Jordan L. Mott Iron Works, of New York, was 45 feet in diameter and 26 feet in height. The four figures at the base were topped by the design of Venus Rising from the Sea.

Three

MACHINERY HALL

Joseph Wilson and Henry Pettit also designed Machinery Hall, the second largest building at the fair. At 1,402 feet long and 360 feet wide, with a southern wing measuring 208 feet by 210 feet, Machinery Hall covered 14 acres of exhibits. It was built of wood and glass on a foundation of masonry and cost $792,000 to construct.

Without a doubt, Machinery Hall elicited the strongest sense of awe and wonder from the visitors. Particularly captivating to fairgoers was the Corliss engine, a mechanism that powered hundreds of machines in Machinery Hall. At the opening of the exhibition on May 10, 1876, Pres. Ulysses S. Grant and Emperor Dom Pedro II of Brazil ceremoniously started the Corliss engine, which in turn started up the other machines in the exhibition hall.

At Machinery Hall, the immense display of firearms made by Colt, Smith and Wesson, Remington, and several other manufacturers grabbed the attention of many fairgoers, particularly the “terrible implement of war, the gattling gun,” and the Krupp gun from Germany. Visitors were likewise amazed by the myriad machinery in full operation. Exhibits here covered mining; chemistry; papermaking; book printing; power generation; hydraulic apparatus; pneumatic apparatus; weaving and sewing; railway, aerial, water, and pneumatic transportation; and the working of metal, wood, and stone.

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