Pan-American Exposition

Aerial view print of Pan-American Exposition, 1901

Official logo for, by Raphael Beck

The Pan-American Exposition was a World's Fair held in Buffalo, New York, United States, from May 1 through November 2, 1901. The fair occupied 350 acres (1.4 km²) of land on the western edge of what is present day Delaware Park, extending from Delaware Ave. to Elmwood Ave and northward to Great Arrow Ave.

History

The event was organized by the Pan-American Exposition Company, formed in 1897. Cayuga Island was initially chosen as the place to hold the Exposition because of the island's proximity to Niagara Falls, which was a huge tourist attraction. But when the Spanish-American War broke out in 1898, plans were put on hold. After the war, there was a heated competition between Buffalo and Niagara Falls over the location. Buffalo won for two main reasons. First, Buffalo had a much larger population — with roughly 350,000 people, it was the eighth-largest city in the United States. Second, Buffalo had better railroad connections — the city was within a day's journey by rail for over 40 million people. In July 1898, Congress pledged $500,000 for the Exposition to be held at Buffalo. The "Pan American" theme was carried throughout the event with the slogan "commercial well being and good understanding among the American Republics." Nikola Tesla had recently invented a three-phase system of alternating current power transmission for distant transfer of electricity. This allowed designers to light the Exposition in Buffalo using power generated 25 miles (40 km) away at Niagara Falls.

Key Events

McKinley's last speech delivered September 5, 1901.

The exposition is most remembered because U.S. President William McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, at the Temple of Music on September 6, 1901; the President died 8 days later. McKinley had given an address at the exposition the previous day; his speech included the following words:

Expositions are the timekeepers of progress. They record the world's advancements. They stimulate the energy, enterprise, and intellect of the people, and quicken human genius. They go into the home. They broaden and brighten the daily life of the people. They open mighty storehouses of information to the student....

The newly-developed X-ray machine, which was an invention of Thomas Edison, was displayed at the fair, but doctors were reluctant to use it on McKinley to search for the bullet because they did not know what side effects it may have had on him. When they did eventually attempt to use it, it appeared be missing a key component, and much to Edison's embarrassment, failed to work. Also, ironically, the operating room at the exposition's emergency hospital did not have any electric lighting, even though the exteriors of many of the buildings were covered with thousands of light bulbs. Doctors used a pan to reflect sunlight onto the operating table as they treated McKinley's wounds.

The Electric Tower, "the crowning feature of the Exposition"

Notable Buildings/Exhibits

• The Administration Building
• The Agricultural, Machinery, Manufacturers, and Liberal Arts Buildings designed by George Shepley.
• The Electric Tower (the fair's center piece) designed by John Galen Howard.
• The Electricity Building designed by Green & Wicks.
• The Ethnology Building designed by George Cary.
• The Government Building designed by J.K Taylor.
• The Mines, Graphic Arts, and Horticulture Buildings all designed by R.S. Peabody.
• The New York State Building designed by George Cary and constructed of Vermont Marble.
• The Temple of Music which served as the center for the live performances. Designed by Esenwein & Johnson.
• The Woman's Building

Attractions

• The Court of Fountains, the central court to the exposition.
• The Great Amphitheater
• The Triumphal Bridge, which was positioned over the "Mirror Lake"

Legacy

When the fair ended, most of the buildings were demolished and the grounds were cleared and subdivided to be used for residential streets. Similar to previous world fairs a majority of the buildings were constructed of timber and steel framing with precast staff panels made of a plaster/fiber mix. These buildings were built as a means of rapid construction and temporary ornamentation and not made to last. A boulder marking the site of McKinley's assassination was placed in a grassy median on Fordham Drive in Buffalo. The New York State building, was designed to permanently outlast the Exposition and is used by the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society, located in Delaware Park, as a museum. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1987, it can be visited on Nottingham Court. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery was intended to be used as a Fine Arts Pavilion but delays in its construction saw it uncompleted in time. The original Electric Tower although destroyed, survives in part as the inspiration and design prototype for the 13 story, Beaux-Arts Electric Tower built in 1912 in downtown Buffalo.

Statistics

• Ticket Cost: US$0.25
  ($7.00 in 2012 dollars).
• Total Event Expense: US$7 million
  ($196 million in 2012 dollars)
• Visitors: 8,000,000

Records of the Pan-American Exposition Company survive in the library collections of the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society.

Pan-American Exhibition, panorama view, from "The Latest and Best Views of the Pan-American Exposition", Buffalo, N.Y.: Robert Allen Reid, 1901.

See also

• Put Me Off at Buffalo - popular song used to advertise the Exposition
• List of world's fairs
• Louisiana Purchase Exposition
• Raphael Beck
• Temple of Music
• William McKinley assassination
• World's Columbian Exposition

Further reading

• Goodrich, Arthur (August 1901). "Short Stories of Interesting Exhibits". The World's Work: A History of Our Time II: 1054–1096. http://books.google.com/books?id=IF6tNZnhO7wC&pg=PA1054. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 
• Page, Walter H. (August 1901). "The Pan-American Exposition". The World's Work: A History of Our Time II: 1014–1048. http://books.google.com/books?id=IF6tNZnhO7wC&pg=PA1015. Retrieved 2009-07-09. 

External links

• Official catalogue and guide book to the Pan-American Exposition: with maps
• Doing the Pan
• Illuminations: Revisiting the Buffalo Pan-American Exposition of 1901
• Movies of the Exposition and more
• The Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society
• Google Maps Street View of the memorial marker on Fordham Drive.