The New International Encyclopædia/Atlanta Exposition

ATLANTA EX′POSI′TION, or Cotton States and Industrial Exposition. An exhibition held in Atlanta, Ga., from September 18 to December 31, 1895, having for its chief purpose the presentation of the agricultural, manufacturing, and mineral resources of the Southern States. The site selected was Piedmont Park, about two miles from the centre of the city, and covered an area of 189 acres, on which over thirty buildings, mostly in the Romanesque style of architecture, were erected. Among these buildings, devoted to the purposes indicated by their names, were the following: Administration, Agriculture, Auditorium, Electricity, Fine Arts, Manufactures and Liberal Arts, Machinery, Minerals and Forestry, Negro, Transportation, United States Government, and Woman's. In addition to special State exhibits by Alabama, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and the District of Columbia, there were exhibits by the foreign governments of Austria, Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Mexico, and Russia, and by several of the South American and Central American republics. The usual amusement features were collected on Midway Heights, and included Chinese, Guatemalan, Japanese, and Mexican villages that were of special interest. Numerous congresses were held during the Exposition, and to nearly every day was assigned some important feature that attracted special visitors. Among these were: Georgia Day, Confederate Day, Negro Day, etc. A Department of Awards, presided over by Daniel C. Gilman, president of the Johns Hopkins University, viewed the exhibits during the two weeks between October 15 and November 1. The total attendance was 1,179,889. and the cost of the Exposition was $960,930. while the receipts from the admissions were $500,000, from concessions $125,230, and from floor space $79,000.