Louisiana Purchase Exposition St. Louis - David Rumsey Historical Map Collection

Louisiana Purchase Exposition St. Louis - David Rumsey Historical Map Collection

Beautiful color map of the 1904 World's Fair, showing the state, territorial, and national pavilions, Model City, Intramural Railway, connections to steam and electric railways. A massive Philippine Exhibit included a model of Manila's Intramuros walled city, a map of the islands, and a Lantern Slides building. The Pike, an entertainment midway, included such attractions as Creation, Hereafter, Infant Incubator, Scenic Railway, Water Chutes, Boyntons Naval Exhibit, Battle Abbey, Galveston Flood, Old St. Louis, Ancient Rome, and Cairo. A large scale model of Jerusalem's Old City dominates the map. Be aware that South is up, and that the fair's boundaries extended from Oakland on the south to Lindell on the north, and from DeBaliviere / Hampton Avenues on the east to Big Bend Dr on the west.

Official guide to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition at the city of St. Louis

The Internet Archive has the official guidebook for the 1904 World's Fair. Page 135 has a photo of the Indian Territory Building and a description of the attractions along The Pike. The entrance to The Pike was graced with Frederic Remington's "Cowboys Shooting Up a Western Town" -- the description sounds like his "Coming through the Rye." On page 138, we learn that the International Olympic Committee has designated all sports and competitions during the World's Fair as Olympic events, with the Olympic games proper occupying one week (Mon-Sat only) from August 29 to September 3. A photo of the Oklahoma Building appears on page 154. The description of St. Louis and its amenities, starting on page 176, is also interesting.

Explore a map of the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis

This is an Adobe Flash application, published in 2010, so your browser may complain, but it lets you see how the 1904 World's Fair Map lines up with present day landmarks.

The 1904 World's Fair Society has a page of links related to the Louisiana Purchase Exposition.