Jamestown Exposition
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The Jamestown Exposition was one of the many world's fairs and expositions that were popular in the United States early part of the 20th century. It was held from April 26 to December 1, 1907, at Sewell's Point on Hampton Roads, near Norfolk, Virginia, and commemorated the 300th anniversary of the founding of the Jamestown Settlement.
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Selecting the Norfolk area as the site
Early in the 20th century, as the tercentennial of the 1607 Founding of the Jamestown neared, leaders in Norfolk, Virginia began a campaign to have a celebration held there. The Association for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities had gotten the ball rolling in 1900 by calling for a celebration honoring the establishment of the first permanent English colony in the New World at Jamestown, to be held on the 300th anniversary.
No one thought that the actual isolated and long-abandoned original site of the Jamestown Settlement would be suitable. But there was an assumption in many parts of the state that Richmond, the state capital, would be chosen as the site of the celebration, because Jamestown had no facilities for large crowds, and the fort housing the Jamestown Settlement was believed to have been long-ago swallowed by the James River.
Hampton Roads' interest was awakened by a bugle call in the form of an editorial in James M. Thomson's Norfolk Dispatch, on February 4, 1901, proclaiming: "Norfolk is undoubtedly the proper place for the holding of this celebration. Norfolk is today the center of the most populous portion of Virginia, and every historical, business and sentimental reason can be adduced in favor of the celebration taking place here rather than in Richmond."
The Dispatch was an unrelenting champion of Norfolk as the site for the exposition, noting in subsequent editorials that "Richmond has absolutely no claim to the celebration except her location on the James River."
By September, 1901, the Norfolk City Council had given support to the project. And in December, 100 prominent residents of Hampton Roads journeyed to Richmond to urge Norfolk as the site. In 1902, the Jamestown Exposition Co. was incorporated. The most popular man in Virginia, former Virginia Governor Fitzhugh Lee, son of General Robert E. Lee, was named its president.
The decision was made to locate the international exposition on a mile-long frontage at Sewell's Point. The location was politically correct, as it was almost an equal distance from the cities of Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News and Hampton. The rural Sewell's Point was also not conveniently located near any one of them. Fortunately, while hard to reach by land, it was much more favorably accessible by water, which ultimately proved an asset.
Sewell's Point: prominent, historical, but isolated
With the choice of Sewell's Point, a prominent, historical, but isolated site, the Jamestown Exposition proved to be a logistical nightmare. Roads had to be built to the site. two existing streetcar lines needed to be extended a considerable distance reach the site. Piers had to be constructed for moving supplies to exposition buildings. Hotels had to be raised to handle the millions of anticipated exposition visitors. Bad weather slowed everything.
Another major setback was the death of Fitzhugh Lee. He died while in New England drumming up trade for the celebration. Henry St. George Tucker, another former Virginia governor, succeeded him. Norfolk businessman David Lowenberg ran most of the operation as director general.
Opening Day: mud, low attendance, racial controversy
Opening day on April 26, 1907 had its share of headaches. Only a fifth of the electric lights could be turned on, and the Warpath recreation area was far from ready. Construction of the government pier left much of the ground in the center of the exposition muddy soup. Prominent visitors included President Theodore Roosevelt, who opened the exposition and presided over the naval review. After the opening day, attendance dropped sharply, and never again achieved projections.
But in time, things improved and portions of the event became spectacular. Planners asked each state of the union to contribute a house to celebrate its history and industry. Lack of interest or funds prevented participation by all, but 21 states funded houses, which bore their names: Pennsylvania House, Virginia House, New Hampshire House, North Carolina House, etc. During the exposition, days were set aside to honor the states individually. The governor of each state usually appeared to greet visitors to the state's house.
The 340 acre (1.4 km²) site included a 122 by 60 ft (37 by 18 m) relief model of the Panama Canal, a wild animal show, a Wild West show, and a re-creation of the then-recent San Francisco Earthquake.
Possibly the most popular attraction was a re-creation of the Battle of Hampton Roads, the first battle between two ironclad warships, the USS Monitor vs. CSS Virginia, which had taken place within sight of Sewell's Point 40 years earlier during the US Civil War. The exterior of the Merrimac-Monitor Building looked somewhat like a battleship while the interior was a large circular description of the battle. The name of the warship which had served the Confederacy in the famous Battle of Hampton Roads eventually became a continuing source of confusion. In the years after the war, the common terminology became Merrimac.
The railroads put on elaborate displays. The Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) displayed its entire F.F.V. passenger train, There was a crack New York Central (NYC) electric engine on display, part of its Grand Central Station modernization project in New York City. Not to be outdone, the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) brought an actual 23 foot diameter section of its new East River Tunnel. The same tube, with an inscription that it had been displayed at the Exposition, was later installed under water as part of the link to the new Penn Station in New York.
There were also late model automobiles, autoboats, and electric and steam traction engines, each in its highest stage of development.
The exposition was perhaps most notable for the display of military prowess; warships of many nations, including the sixteen battleships of the United States, participated in a naval review, and all kinds of modern military hardware were on display.
A controversial feature of the exposition was its "Negro Building", designed by W. Sydney Pittman and purporting to show the progress of African-Americans, but which was charged with being a "Jim Crow affair", and criticized by W.E.B. DuBois and T. Thomas Fortune. While Dr. Booker T. Washington was invited and attended as a prominent guest, many African-Americans were probably reminded of their lack of progress, as they were forbidden by law to patronize the restaurants at the exposition.
Mark Twain and Henry H. Rogers also paid a visit, arriving in the latter's yacht Kanawha. Later that summer, Twain returned and was a guest-of-honor on Robert Fulton Day. The elderly Twain's humorous talk was partly an introduction of Rear Admiral Purnell F. Harrington, former Commandant of the Norfolk Navy Yard. Said Twain, "In my remarks of welcome of Admiral Harrington, I am not going to give him compliments. Compliments always embarrass a man. You do not know what to say. It does not inspire you with words. There is nothing you can say in answer to a compliment. I have been complimented myself a great many times, and they always embarrass me. I always feel they have not said enough."
Perhaps the exposition's most impressive display was on water rather than land. Ships of two squadrons commanded by Admiral Robley Evans formed a continuing presence off Sewell's Point. The assembly included 16 battleships, five cruisers, and six destroyers. The fleet remained in Hampton Roads after the exposition closed and became President Theodore Roosevelt's Great White Fleet, which toured the globe as evidence of the nation's military might.
The United States issued a series of three postage stamps in conjunction with the exposition, portraying Captain John Smith, the founding of Jamestown, and Pocahontas.
Accomplishments - financial loss, beginnings of a great naval base
When the Exposition closed on, December 1, 1907, it had been a financial failure, losing several million dollars. Attendance had been 3 million, a lot of people, but only a fraction of the large numbers promised by the promoters. However, it served an American purpose and one for Norfolk and Hampton Roads.
Nearly every Congressman and Senator of prominence had attended the exposition, and the location at Sewell's point was prominently showcased. Sewell's Point, of naval importance in the early Civil War, had been virtually forgotten since shortly after its bombardment and return to Union hands in 1862.
Now the admirals in Norfolk urged the creation of a Naval Base at the exposition site. But nearly 10 years would elapse before the idea, given impetus by World War I, would become a reality. The Naval Base was aided by the improvements remaining from the Exposition, the strategic location at Sewell's Point on Hampton Roads, and the available largely vacant land there. Another favorable consideration was that the coal piers and storage yards of the Virginian Railway (VGN), built by William N. Page and Henry H. Rogers, and completed in 1909, was immediately adjacent to the Exposition site. The well-engineered VGN was a valuable link directly to the bituminous coal of southern West Virginia which the Navy strongly preferred for its steam-powered ships.
On June 28, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson set aside $2.8 million for land purchase and the erection of storehouses and piers for what was to become the Navy Base. Of the 474 acres (1.9 km²) originally acquired, 367 had been the old Jamestown Exposition grounds. The military property was later expanded considerably. The former Virginian Railway coal piers, land, and an adjacent coal storage facility owned by Norfolk & Western Railway (which merged with the VGN in 1959) were added in the 1960s and 1970s. In fact, the base now includes over 4,000 acres (16 km²), and is the largest Naval facility in the world.
Some of the exposition buildings which were taken over by the Navy remain in use as of 2004, primarily as admirals' quarters for the Navy Base. Thirteen of the state houses can still be seen on Dillingham Boulevard at the Naval Station Norfolk, on what has been called "Admiral's Row." The Pennsylvania House served as the Hampton Roads Naval Museum for many years until it was relocated in 1999 to the new Nauticus Center on the harbor in Norfolk.
See also
External link
- Some contemporary documents discussing the Jamestown Exposition (http://www.boondocksnet.com/expos/jamestown.html)
- Mark Twain and Henry Huttleston Rogers in Virginia (http://www.twainquotes.com/TwainRogersVA.html) excerpts from their trips together to the 1907 Jamestown Exposition and the 1909 Dedication of the Virginian Railway
- "When the World came to Town" (http://www.navstanorva.navy.mil/INFO/ABOUT_US/HISTORY/EXPO/expo.htm)
- Jamestown Rediscovery (http://www.apva.org/jr.html)
- City of Norfolk Sewell's Point 1923 Annexation (http://www.norfolk.gov/Neighborhoods/Services/histories_1923.asp)
- Hampton Roads Naval Museum (http://www.hrnm.navy.mil/)
- Norfolk City Historical Society (http://www.norfolkhistorical.org)
- City of Norfolk website, Local History (http://www.norfolk.gov/Education/)
- Civil War and the Battle of Sewell’s Point (http://college.hmco.com/history/readerscomp/civwar/html/cw_000301_sewellspoint.htm)
- Civil War Naval History (http://www.multied.com/Navy/cwnavalhistory/)
- Naval Station Norfolk website (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/norfolk.htm)
- Norfolk & Western Historical Society. (http://www.nwhs.org/) – Covers Virginian history
- Virginian Railway (VGN) Enthusiasts. (http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/VirginianRailwayEnthusiasts/) – Non-profit group of preservationists, authors, photographers, historians, modelers, and railfans
- listing of Virginian Railway authors and their works (http://www.virginiasampler.com/virginian_railway_authors.htm)