Snapshots of the Past

Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876: Machinery Hall, North Ave., Sept. 5, 1875 – Vintage Print

Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876: Machinery Hall, North Ave., Sept. 5, 1875, 1875 — historic photograph
Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876: Machinery Hall, North Ave., Sept. 5, 1875, 1875. Historic photograph from the World's Fairs collection.

(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)

Description

A window into the past: Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876: Machinery Hall, North Ave., Sept. 5, 1875, preserved in this historic photograph. It comes from the collections of the Library of Congress, scanned from the original and carefully restored.

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Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, 1876: Machinery Hall, North Ave., Sept. 5, 1875

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Taken in early September 1875, this sepia print shows Machinery Hall on North Avenue while it was still under construction, roughly eight months before the Centennial Exhibition opened in May 1876. The hall became one of the largest buildings on the fairgrounds and housed the great steam engines and industrial machinery that drew crowds to Philadelphia that year. Its raw framing and open bays capture the scale of the effort needed to finish the grounds in time. The caption card's tag naming Thailand is unverified and may not describe this view.

Created / published1875
Medium1 photographic print.
SubjectsSepia photo by Centennial Photo Co. This record contains unverified, old data from caption card. Caption card tracings: Thailand; Construction; Exhibitions--1876; Shelf.
SourceLibrary of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division
Original scan1,686 × 1,360 px · prints to 6 × 5 in at 300 dpi
ReferenceAMZ-SOTP-HPA-133019

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