The Southern Exposition was a five-year series of
world's fair
A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...
s held in
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the List of cities in Kentucky, most populous city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, sixth-most populous city in the Southeastern United States, Southeast, and the list of United States cities by population, 27th-most-populous city ...
, from 1883 to 1887 in what is now Louisville's
Old Louisville neighborhood. The exposition, held for 100 days each year on immediately south of
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the ...
, which is now the
St. James-Belgravia Historic District, was essentially an industrial and mercantile show. At the time, the exposition was larger than any previous American exhibition with the exception of the
Centennial Exposition held in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
in 1876.
U.S. President Chester A. Arthur opened the first annual exposition on August 1, 1883.
Highlights
One highlight of the show was the largest to-date installation of
incandescent light bulb
An incandescent light bulb, also known as an incandescent lamp or incandescent light globe, is an electric light that produces illumination by Joule heating a #Filament, filament until it incandescence, glows. The filament is enclosed in a ...
s, having been recently invented by
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison (February11, 1847October18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventions, ...
(a resident of Louisville sixteen years before), to bring light to the exposition in the nighttime. The contract with the Louisville Board of Trade was for 5,000 incandescent lamps. 4,600 lamps for the exhibition hall and 400 for an art gallery, more than all the lamps installed in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
at that time, were used.
George H. Yater writes in his book ''Two Hundred Years at the Fall of the Ohio'':
See also
*
Amphitheatre Auditorium, built with materials from the nearby dismantled remains of the Southern Exposition building
*
St. James Court Art Show, held in the same location
References
*
Further reading
*
External links
"'Went to the Exposition Tonight': Louisville's 1883 Southern Exposition"— Article by Kathryn Anne Bratcher of The Filson Historical Society
* — Article by Civil War historian/author Bryan S. Bush
{{List of world's fairs in The United States of America
History of Louisville, Kentucky
World's fairs in the United States
Festivals established in 1883
Recurring events disestablished in 1887
1883 establishments in Kentucky
1887 disestablishments in Kentucky