1904 St. Louis World's Fair — The Louisiana Purchase Exposition

I purchased these stereograph cards at an antique store in Virginia several years ago. Because I was born in St. Louis I’ve always had an interest in the 1904 World’s Fair. My maternal grandparents Thomas and Martha (Wirtz) Whitelaw attended the fair, as did my great-grandparents Thomas and Johanna (Looby) Whitelaw.

The St. Louis World’s Fair, officially known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. It celebrated the centenary of the Louisiana Purchase and featured exhibitions from 62 foreign nations and 43 states.

There were over nineteen million visitors to the fair! The area where the fair took place covered 1,270 acres in the Forest Park and Washington University area. Contrary to a myth, the famed architect Frederick Law Olmstead did not design the fairgrounds. The Fair hosted the 1904 Summer Olympic Games, the first Olympics to be held in the United States.