1904 Melville Bird's Eye View or Map of the St. Louis World's Fair

This is a 1904 George W. Melville bird's-eye view or map of the St. Louis World's Fair, also known as the Louisiana Purchase Exposition. The view is centered on the Art and Statuary Exhibit Palace or main exhibition center. Each of the state buildings, special buildings, foreign pavilions, and special attractions are numerically labeled and correspond with the index on the verso.

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

The 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, hosted by St. Louis to celebrate the centennial of the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, lasted from April 30 to December 1, 1904, and welcomed nearly 19.7 million visitors. Countries from all over the world constructed pavilions, as did forty-three of the forty-five states then part of the Union. Most of the buildings for the St. Louis World's Fair, as with the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago, were only meant to be temporary structures. Some buildings, however, were constructed of more long-lasting material and are still standing. The Palace of Fine Art now serves as the St. Louis Art Museum, and the Administration Building is now Brookings Hall, part of the Washington University. The St. Louis fair also witnessed the debut of several new foods, including the waffle-style ice cream come, Dr. Pepper, peanut butter, iced tea, and cotton candy. The fair hosted the 1904 Olympic Games, which were greatly overshadowed by the fair itself.

Publication History and Census

This view was created and published by George W. Melville in 1904. Only two examples are catalogued in the OCLC and are part of the collections at the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institution.