The Greater America Exposition was a world's fair held on
North Omaha, Nebraska
North Omaha is a community area in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. It is bordered by Cuming and Dodge Streets on the south, Interstate 680 on the north, North 72nd Street on the west and the Missouri River and Carter Lake, Iowa on the ea ...
from July 1 to October 31, 1899.
Formation
After the 1898
Trans-Mississippi Exposition
The Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition was a world's fair held in Omaha, Nebraska from June 1 to November 1 of 1898. Its goal was to showcase the development of the entire West, stretching from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Coa ...
exhibition a group of investors decided to retain some of the buildings and hold a second season at
Kountze Park
Kountze Park is an urban public park located at 1920 Pinkney Street in the Kountze Place neighborhood of North Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. The Park is historically significant as the site of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition of 1898.
...
in 1899 with a new theme.
President McKinley expressed support for the exhibition as an opportunity to show America's new colonial possessions following the
Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
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.
Grounds
The grounds were refurbished with 500 staff patching and painting buildings and replanting flower beds.
And the concrete walkways were replaced by red brick ones.
Buildings
There were
agriculture,
apiary,
colonial exhibits,
dairy,
fine arts and liberal arts,
horticulture,
international,
manufactures,
and
mines and mining,
buildings,
a machinery hall,
a 520 by 150 feet United States pavilion,
and auxiliary buildings including press, fire, police and a hospital.
New possessions
One March 18, 1899 the government agreed to transport agents to fetch exhibits from
Cuba,
Hawaii,
the Philippines
and
Porto Rico.
60 tubs of Hawaiian plants were destroyed when customs officials dumped the Hawaiian shipment,
and a second Hawaiian shipment went missing between San Francisco and Omaha.
After the exhibition some of the Hawaiian exhibits were sent to a forthcoming Paris exhibition.
The Cuban village included over 700 snakes, a garrotte and the hangman Valentine Ruiz.
The Philippines had planned to include monkeys, native birds and four water buffaloes. Six water buffaloes were shipped though only two water buffaloes arrived in Omaha.
See also
*
Treaty of Paris (1898)
The Treaty of Peace between the United States of America and the Kingdom of Spain, commonly known as the Treaty of Paris of 1898 ( fil, Kasunduan sa Paris ng 1898; es, Tratado de París de 1898), was a treaty signed by Spain and the United Stat ...
for the Treaty that led to the new possessions which McKinley wanted to show.
References
External links
"Trans-Mississippi Exposition"by UNL and the University of Omaha has many images of the buildings at the fair.
"A History of the 1899 Greater America Exposition"by Adam Fletcher Sasse for NorthOmahaHistory.com
{{List of world's fairs in the United States
1899 in Nebraska
Festivals established in 1898
History of North Omaha, Nebraska
World's fairs in the United States
Aftermath of the Spanish–American War in the United States
Colonial exhibitions
Trans-Mississippi Exposition