World Cotton Centennial

File:Visitors' guide to the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition, and New Orleans.Commencing Dec. 16, 1884, and ending May 31, 1885. (IA visitorsguidetow00lill 0).pdf

The U.S. Congress lent $1 million to the fair's directors and gave $300,000 for the construction of a large U.S. Government & State Exhibits Hall on the site.{{cite book | last = Reeves | first = Thomas C. | title = Gentleman Boss | url = https://archive.org/details/gentlemanbosslif00reev | url-access = registration | publisher = Alfred A. Knopf | year = 1975 | location = NY, NY | pages = [https://archive.org/details/gentlemanbosslif00reev/page/382 382] | isbn = 0-394-46095-2}} However, the planning and construction of the fair was marked by corruption and scandals, and state treasurer Edward A. Burke absconded abroad with some $1,777,000 of state money including most of the fair's budget.{{cite book | last = Stall | first = Gasper J. "Buddy" | title = Proud, Peculiar New Orleans: the Inside Story | publisher = Claritor's | year = 1988 | location = Baton Rouge, LA | pages = 124–126 | isbn = 0-87511-679-5}} Despite such serious financial difficulties, the Fair succeeded in offering many attractions to visitors.

The Centennial covered {{convert|249|acres|0|abbr=on}}, stretching from St. Charles Avenue to the Mississippi River, and could be entered directly by railway, steamboat, or ocean-going ship. The main building enclosed {{convert|33|acres|0|abbr=on}} and was the largest roofed structure constructed up to that time. It was illuminated with 5,000 electric lights (still a novelty at the time, and said to be ten times the number then existing in New Orleans outside of the fairgrounds). There was also a Horticultural Hall, an observation tower with electric elevators, and working examples of multiple designs of experimental electric street-cars. The Mexican exhibit was particularly lavish and popular, constructed at a cost of $200,000, and featuring a huge brass band that was a great hit locally.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1yO_xTg2VTIC&q=%22Mexican+Band%22+Fair+%22New+Orleans%22&pg=PA186|title = The Illusion of Ignorance: Constructing the American Encounter with Mexico, 1877-1920|isbn = 9780761853541|last1 = Jayes|first1 = Janice Lee|year = 2011}}{{cite web |url=http://hill.blogs.lib.lsu.edu/2011/10/mexican-music-in-19th-century-new-orleans/ |title=Mexican Music in 19th-Century New Orleans « LSU Libraries Special Collections Blog |website=hill.blogs.lib.lsu.edu |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517153431/http://hill.blogs.lib.lsu.edu/2011/10/mexican-music-in-19th-century-new-orleans/ |archive-date=2014-05-17}}

Image:1884NOLAFairEsplanadeMonument.jpg]]

On December 16, 1884, U.S. President Chester Arthur opened the fair via telegraph (two weeks behind schedule). It closed on June 2, 1885. In an unsuccessful attempt to recover some of the financial losses from the Fair, the grounds and structures were reused for the North Central & South American Exposition from November 10, 1885, to March 31, 1886, with little success. After this the structures were publicly auctioned off, most going only for their worth in scrap. The term "Pan-American" was not used in the fair's title, since it was just coming into popular use in the press in the late 1880s.{{cite book | last = Gonzalez | first = Robert Alexander | title = Designing Pan-America: U.S. Architectural Visions for the Western Hemisphere | url = https://utpress.utexas.edu/9781477326671/ | url-access = registration | publisher = University of Texas Press | year = 2011 | location = Austin, Texas | pages = 22-31 | isbn = 9781477326671}}

The site today is Audubon Park and Audubon Zoo in Uptown New Orleans.

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File:North, Central & South American exposition as compared with other international exhibits LCCN2003681738.jpg

• {{cite book | title = Designing Pan-America: U.S. Architectural Visions for the Western Hemisphere | author = Gonzalez, Robert Alexander | publisher = University of Texas Press | year = 2011 | isbn = 9780292723252 | url-access = registration | url = https://utpress.utexas.edu/9781477326671/ }}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/America/United_States/Louisiana/New_Orleans/_Texts/KENHNO/29*.html The World's Cotton Centennial Exposition]. Book chapter
• {{Cite book|last=Perkins|first=Daniel W.|publisher=Lane S. Hart|title=Practical Common Sense Guide Book through the World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition at New Orleans|url=http://archive.org/stream/practicalcommons00perkrich|date=1885}}
• {{Cite book|publisher=Self Published|title=1884-New Orleans-1885 The Great World's Fair: Rare Photographic Images from the Collection of Kenneth R. Speth|last=Speth|first=Kenneth R.|isbn=9780692065099|url=http://www.thebookpatch.com/BookStore/1884-new-orleans-1885-the-great-worlds-fair/51d79fee-9ab6-43fd-86a9-8b456a376beb?isbn=9780692065099|date=2018}}
• [http://hnoc.minisisinc.com/thnoc/catalog/3/206 World's Industrial and Cotton Centennial Exposition Collection] at [http://www.hnoc.org The Historic New Orleans Collection]

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{{succession box|title=World Expositions|before=Melbourne International Exhibition (1880)|after=Exposición Universal de Barcelona (1888)|years=1884}}

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{{List of world exhibitions}}

{{List of world's fairs in The United States of America}}

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Category:World's fairs in Louisiana

Category:19th century in New Orleans

Category:1884 in Louisiana

Category:1884 festivals

Category:Cotton industry in the United States

Category:Centennial anniversaries

Category:Events in New Orleans