Celebrating the centennial of the Louisiana Purchase, the United States Universal Exposition of 1904, also known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition or St. Louis World’s Fair, covered two square miles of St. Louis, Missouri, and included over 200 buildings. Its enormous size and cost of $19.6 million were double that of the Columbian Exposition in Chicago ten years earlier. The event aspired to demonstrate the progress of the industrialization of Western nations, primarily technological advancement.
Led by geologist William B. Phillips, the University of Texas Mineral Survey, established in 1901, contributed heavily to the Texas exhibit for the fair. The state’s display included a Texas Forestry exhibit, later installed at the University of Texas.
Sources:
Flawn, Peter Tyrell. “Geology in the State Government of Texas.” Austin: Bureau of Economic Geology, University of Texas at Austin, 1965.
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“Texas Forestry Exhibit at St. Louis.”
A certificate and photographs comprise the United States Universal Exposition Papers, [ca. 1904], documenting the involvement of the state of Texas in the Louisiana Purchase Exposition of 1904. The certificate confers a gold medal to William B. Phillips in collaboration with the Texas Mineral Survey for their contribution to the fair. Fifteen photographs mounted to a single board depict logging and were likely part of the fair’s Texas Forestry Exhibit.
This collection is open for research use.
United States Universal Exposition Papers, [ca. 1904], Dolph Briscoe Center for American History, The University of Texas at Austin.
Basic processing and cataloging of this collection was supported with funds from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC) for the Briscoe Center’s “History Revealed: Bringing Collections to Light project,” 2009-2011.