
The Palace of Fine Arts is once again open to the public. They did an amazing job over the years with its restoration. I love walking around here.
Did you know, after the
devastation of the 1906 earthquake and fire, San Francisco was anxious
to show the world that it had risen from the ashes. So in 1910,
business and civic leaders gathered to discuss making San Francisco the
site of the century’s first great world’s fair — a grand exposition
that would honor the completion of the Panama Canal. In just two hours,
they raised $4 million — and beat out competitors New Orleans and
Washington, D.C., to host the 1915 Panama Pacific International
Exposition.
On opening day,
February 20, 1915, 255,149 people walked through the entry gates to
experience the first world event of the 20th century. By the time the
exposition closed nine months later, more than 18 million people —
about 20 times the population of San Francisco at the time — would
visit the exposition. And when this spectacular festival came to a
close with fireworks and a solitary bugler playing taps, by all
accounts, the crowds wept.
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