Venue and
Accommodations

Following the devastating 1906 earthquake and fire, San Francisco was inspired to show the world how it had risen from the ashes. So, in 1910, business and civic leaders convened to discuss making the city the site of the century’s first great world’s fair, a grand exposition to honor the completion of the Panama Canal. In two hours, $4 million was raised and San Francisco beat competitors like New Orleans and Washington, D.C. to host the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition.

Among the exhibits at the Exposition was the C. P. Huntington, the first steam locomotive purchased by Southern Pacific Railroad; the locomotive then went on static display at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. A telephone line was also established to New York City so people across the continent could hear the Pacific Ocean. The Liberty Bell traveled by train on a nationwide tour from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to attend the exposition.The 1915 American Grand Prize and Vanderbilt Cup auto races were held February 27 and March 6 on a 3.84-mile (6.18 km) circuit set up around the Exposition grounds. The Smithsonian Institution also had an exhibition at the Exposition.