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EspañolTRANS-MISSISSIPPI EXPOSITION
(Redirected from Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition)
The 'Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition' was a world's fair held in Omaha, Nebraska from June 1 to November 1 of 1898. Its goal was to showcase the development of the entire West, stretching from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast. The Indian Congress was held concurrently.
It featured ornate grounds that were created to highlight the economic, cultural and artistic achievements of the individuals who lived in the Midwest. All of the buildings, which housed over 5000 exhibits, were built as temporary structures.[1]
The decision to hold Exposition was made in late 1897 by a small committee of Omaha businessmen determined to hold the Expo.[2] In making their decision, the committee excluded several sites, including an area near 16th Avenue and Pershing Drive in East Omaha, near the now-dry Florence Lake. It was the preferred site for the Exposition early in 1897.[3] 400 acres surrounding the tract that became Miller Park was considered the strongest contender towards the middle of the year. However, both sites ended up losing out to a site in North Omaha later in the year when Omaha banker Herman Kountze donated land in his Kountze Place development to the City of Omaha. After the Expo some of that land would become Kountze Park.
Many important developments happened throughout the city before the opening of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. They included the opening of the Burlington Train Station in downtown Omaha.[4] The construction of the hundreds of temporary buildings at the Expo was notable because of the almost exclusive usage of a new, cheap and pliable building material called staff. It allowed Expo designers to construct visual reproductions of Grecian and Roman temples, fine European buildings, and more.
During the Expo, on August 31, 1898, the committee declared "Cody Day" in honor of Buffalo Bill Cody. Cody brought his "world-famous" Wild West Show back to North Omaha where it was founded.[5]
The following year after the Expo some members of its managing committee decided to host another Expo-type event, which became the Great American Exposition in summer 1899.[6]
The Post Office Department issued a series of nine postage stamps to mark the Exposition, each depicting a Western scene. Now known as the Trans-Mississippi Issue and considered among the finest stamps produced by the US, they are highly prized by collectors; a complete unused set is worth about US$5,000.
A monument to the exposition was placed in Omaha's Kountze Park, the former site of the exposition, during a Centennial celebration of the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition in 1998.
★ Richard Bock - World-famous sculptor who designed several buildings at the Expo.
★ The Omaha Public Library's Page on the Exposition
★ Trans-Mississippi Exposition Omaha, Nebraska, 1898
★ Overhead Map of the Trans Mississippi Exposition Grounds (1898)
★ Aerial pictorial of the TME gounds (1898)
★ When the World Came to Omaha, on the Omaha Public Schools website.
Night view of the Grand Court. Photograph by Frank Rinehart, 1898.
The 'Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition' was a world's fair held in Omaha, Nebraska from June 1 to November 1 of 1898. Its goal was to showcase the development of the entire West, stretching from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coast. The Indian Congress was held concurrently.
It featured ornate grounds that were created to highlight the economic, cultural and artistic achievements of the individuals who lived in the Midwest. All of the buildings, which housed over 5000 exhibits, were built as temporary structures.[1]
| Contents |
| Timeline |
| Commemoration |
| See also |
| External links |
Timeline
The decision to hold Exposition was made in late 1897 by a small committee of Omaha businessmen determined to hold the Expo.[2] In making their decision, the committee excluded several sites, including an area near 16th Avenue and Pershing Drive in East Omaha, near the now-dry Florence Lake. It was the preferred site for the Exposition early in 1897.[3] 400 acres surrounding the tract that became Miller Park was considered the strongest contender towards the middle of the year. However, both sites ended up losing out to a site in North Omaha later in the year when Omaha banker Herman Kountze donated land in his Kountze Place development to the City of Omaha. After the Expo some of that land would become Kountze Park.
Many important developments happened throughout the city before the opening of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. They included the opening of the Burlington Train Station in downtown Omaha.[4] The construction of the hundreds of temporary buildings at the Expo was notable because of the almost exclusive usage of a new, cheap and pliable building material called staff. It allowed Expo designers to construct visual reproductions of Grecian and Roman temples, fine European buildings, and more.
During the Expo, on August 31, 1898, the committee declared "Cody Day" in honor of Buffalo Bill Cody. Cody brought his "world-famous" Wild West Show back to North Omaha where it was founded.[5]
The following year after the Expo some members of its managing committee decided to host another Expo-type event, which became the Great American Exposition in summer 1899.[6]
Commemoration
The Post Office Department issued a series of nine postage stamps to mark the Exposition, each depicting a Western scene. Now known as the Trans-Mississippi Issue and considered among the finest stamps produced by the US, they are highly prized by collectors; a complete unused set is worth about US$5,000.
A monument to the exposition was placed in Omaha's Kountze Park, the former site of the exposition, during a Centennial celebration of the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition in 1998.
See also
★ Richard Bock - World-famous sculptor who designed several buildings at the Expo.
External links
★ The Omaha Public Library's Page on the Exposition
★ Trans-Mississippi Exposition Omaha, Nebraska, 1898
★ Overhead Map of the Trans Mississippi Exposition Grounds (1898)
★ Aerial pictorial of the TME gounds (1898)
★ When the World Came to Omaha, on the Omaha Public Schools website.
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