Piedmont Exposition
Encyclopedia
Trade fair
A trade fair is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products, service, study activities of rivals and examine recent market trends and opportunities...
ever held in Piedmont Park
Piedmont Park
Piedmont Park is a urban park in Atlanta, Georgia, located about northeast of Downtown, between the Midtown and Virginia Highland neighborhoods. Originally the land was owned by Dr. Benjamin Walker, who used it as his out-of-town gentleman's farm and residence...
in Atlanta, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
.
Founding of the Piedmont Exposition Company
The Piedmont Exposition Company was founded in June 1887 by a group of men who met in the offices of the Atlanta ConstitutionThe Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the only major daily newspaper in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, and its suburbs. The AJC, as it is called, is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is the result of the merger between The Atlanta Journal and The Atlanta...
. The Company's chief purpose was to organize the Piedmont Exhibition for the purpose of exhibiting the natural resources of the Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
region including Georgia, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, Tennessee
Tennessee
Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...
, and Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...
.
| Officers of the Piedmont Exhibition Company | |
|---|---|
| Name | Office |
| Charles A. Collier Charles Collier Charles A. Collier was a capitalist, banker, and lawyer. He was the son of Judge John Collier and Henrietta E. Wilson. His wife, Suzie was the daughter of William A. Rawson.-Early career:... |
President |
| Henry W. Grady Henry W. Grady Henry Woodfin Grady was a journalist and orator who helped reintegrate the states of the former Confederacy into the Union after the American Civil War.... |
Vice-President |
| Robert J. Lowry | Treasurer |
| Major W.H. Smyth | Secretary |
Directors
- John Tyler CooperJohn Tyler CooperJohn Tyler Cooper was an American politician, serving from 1887 until 1889 as the 30th Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia.-Biography:Born in Marietta, Georgia, John T...
- G. M. Bain
- E. P. Chamberlin
- M. C. Kiser
- James W. EnglishJames W. EnglishJames Warren English was an American politician, bank president, and a staff officer during the American Civil War. He was a postbellum mayor of Atlanta, Georgia, from 1881 until 1883....
- T. D. Meador
- John A. Fitten
- G. W. Adair
- C. D. Horn
- J. Kingsbury
- J. R. Wylie
- S. H. Phelan
- W. L. Peel
- W. W. Boyd
- T. L. Langston
- E. Rich
- P. H. Snook
- Rufus Brown BullockRufus BullockRufus Brown Bullock was an American politician.-Biography:He served as the 46th Governor of Georgia from 1868 to 1871 during Reconstruction and was the first Republican governor of Georgia. After various allegations of scandal, in 1871 he was obliged by the Ku Klux Klan to resign the governorship...
- Samuel N. Inman
Executive Committee
- John Tyler CooperJohn Tyler CooperJohn Tyler Cooper was an American politician, serving from 1887 until 1889 as the 30th Mayor of Atlanta, Georgia.-Biography:Born in Marietta, Georgia, John T...
- J. R. Wylie
- S. H. Phelan
- C. D. Horn
- G. M. Bain
- E. P. Chamberlin
- Rufus Brown BullockRufus BullockRufus Brown Bullock was an American politician.-Biography:He served as the 46th Governor of Georgia from 1868 to 1871 during Reconstruction and was the first Republican governor of Georgia. After various allegations of scandal, in 1871 he was obliged by the Ku Klux Klan to resign the governorship...
Planning
Planning of the exposition took only 104 days from the time the company was formed. The main plan called for the clearing out of a 189 acre (0.76485654 km²) forest, an area now known as Piedmont ParkPiedmont Park
Piedmont Park is a urban park in Atlanta, Georgia, located about northeast of Downtown, between the Midtown and Virginia Highland neighborhoods. Originally the land was owned by Dr. Benjamin Walker, who used it as his out-of-town gentleman's farm and residence...
, as well as the construction of several expensive buildings and a horse racetrack.,
The main building constructed for the Exposition was 570 feet (173.7 m) long, 126 feet (38.4 m) wide, and two stories high.
Opening
The Piedmont Exposition of 1887, the first exposition ever held in Piedmont Park, opened on October 10. The first day opened with 20,000 visitors. Opening orations were performed by Governor GordonJohn Brown Gordon
John Brown Gordon was one of Robert E. Lee's most trusted Confederate generals during the American Civil War. After the war, he was a strong opponent of Reconstruction and is thought by some to have been the titular leader of the Ku Klux Klan in Georgia during the late 1860s. A member of the...
and Hon. Samuel J. Randall
Samuel J. Randall
Samuel Jackson Randall was a Pennsylvania politician, attorney, soldier, and a prominent Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives during the late 19th century. He served as the 33rd Speaker of the House and a contender for his party's nomination for the President of the...
of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
. Randall opened the Exposition with a speech on the success of the resurrected post-civil war south. When his speech concluded, General Pierce M. B. Young
Pierce M. B. Young
Pierce Manning Butler Young was a major general in the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War and a post-war politician, diplomat, and four-term United States Congressman from Georgia....
and his men fired cannons to signal the opening of the events.
David B. Hill
David Bennett Hill was an American politician from New York who was the 29th Governor of New York from 1885 to 1891.-Life:...
of New York spoke at the event as well as President Grover Cleveland
Grover Cleveland
Stephen Grover Cleveland was the 22nd and 24th president of the United States. Cleveland is the only president to serve two non-consecutive terms and therefore is the only individual to be counted twice in the numbering of the presidents...
who attended with his new wife, Frances Folsom, on October 19.,, Over 50,000 people were in attendance for Cleveland's speech. The event closed on October 22 with a total attendance of about 200,000. When the exposition was over, civic leaders said that it had successfully expanded Atlanta's reputation as a place to visit and to conduct business.
The Exposition was also a chance for Atlanta to prove that it was ready to host the World's Fair
World's Fair
World's fair, World fair, Universal Exposition, and World Expo are various large public exhibitions held in different parts of the world. The first Expo was held in The Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom, in 1851, under the title "Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All...
. The Executive Committee of the Fair was invited to attend the event under the bidding of Charles Reynolds, Secretary of the Piedmont Exposition Company.