1914 Cardinell-Vincent View of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition; San Francisco

This is an extremely rare 1914 Cardinell-Vincent view of the grounds of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE) in San Francisco. Made before the exposition itself, it shows the pavilions and other structures of the exposition with San Francisco Bay in the background.

A Closer Look

This view is oriented towards the northeast, with Tiburon and Sausalito at top-left and Berkeley and the western part of Contra Costa County to the top-right. At top-center are Angel and Belvedere Islands, while Alcatraz is to their right. In the years just prior to the exposition, Angel Island had begun to be used as an immigration station, part of a wider effort to strictly limit immigration from China and other Asian countries. The island was also used for military purposes and as a quarantine station. Alcatraz Island had also been used by the military, first for coastal batteries and later as a prison for captured Confederate soldiers. The prison was entirely rebuilt just prior to the exposition, resulting in the structure seen here (still extant), which may have been the largest concrete structure in the world at the time.

In the foreground are the buildings of the PPIE. To the left, near the racetrack, were pavilions for individual U.S. states, while pavilions for foreign countries were to their south and east, abutting the Palace of Fine Arts (near center). To the east (right) were pavilions dedicated to various industries, sciences, and arts. At right is the Cow Hollow neighborhood, while the broad road dividing the exposition from the city is Lombard Street.

Panama-Pacific International Exposition (PPIE)

The PPIE was a world's fair held in San Francisco between February 20 and December 4, 1915. Ostensibly, the fair was intended to celebrate the completion of the Panama Canal (a lesser-known rival Panama–California Exposition was held in San Diego the same year), but it was also an opportunity for San Francisco to showcase its remarkable recovery from the 1906 earthquake.

The fair was constructed on a 635-acre site along the northern shore of the city between Fort Mason and the Presidio now known as the Marina District, created from landfill, including rubble from the 1906 earthquake. It showcased markers of industry, progress, and prosperity, such as steam locomotives and the telephone. The exposition's sculptures and other artistic production have also been noted by historians for their celebration of America's Western expansion and the subjugation of Native Americans.

The exposition's pièce de resistance was the 'Tower of Jewels' (at center-right), a 435-foot tower covered in glass 'jewels' illuminated by powerful searchlights. Little remains of the original fair grounds; the buildings, made from a material called staff common for expositions of the time, were meant to collapse after the event and the land was sold to developers. One exception is the Palace of Fine Arts; although the current iteration matches the original, it was completely rebuilt in the 1960s to be more permanent and seismic-resistant. Also, the San Francisco Civic Auditorium (now the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium) near City Hall, outside of the Marina District, was built from sturdier material for the exposition, while the Legion of Honor, built in Lincoln Park in the 1920s to commemorate the dead from the First World War, was a reconstruction of the French Pavilion at the 1915 exposition, itself a ¾ model of the Palais de la Légion d'honneur in Paris. In both world wars, the remaining grounds and buildings of the exposition were used by the U.S. Army (already present in the neighboring Presidio), with the most notable legacy being the construction of Crissy Field on the grounds of the racetrack, which had also served as an airfield during the exposition, seen here at left.

Publication History and Census

This view was produced in 1914 by the Cardinell-Vincent Company, a San Francisco-based outfit that was designated as an official photographer and concessionaire of the exposition. It does not appear to be held by any institution or have a known history on the market.