Jamestown Exposition

The Jamestown Exposition, also known as the Jamestown Ter-Centennial Exposition of 1907, was one of the many world's fairs and expositions that were popular in the United States in the early part of the 20th century. Commemorating the 300th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown in the Virginia Colony, it was held from April 26 to December 1, 1907, at Sewell's Point on Hampton Roads, in Norfolk, Virginia. It celebrated the first permanent English settlement in the present United States. In 1975, the 20 remaining exposition buildings were included on the National Register of Historic Places as a national historic district. After the opening day, attendance dropped sharply and never again achieved projections. The Exposition Company had initially lobbied the federal government for $1,640,000 and received a loan for an additional million, to be repaid through a lien on 40% of the gate receipts. When crowds failed to appear in the anticipated numbers—the exposition was attracting an average of 13,000 visitors daily, only 7,400 of whom paid entrance—the company could repay only $140,000 of the million-dollar loan. The fair began attracting negative attention in the press as early as January before it opened, as a divisive split between planning committee members became public. The press who arrived for the opening day found the grounds unfinished, the hotels overpriced, and the transportation between the fair and nearby towns insufficient.

Exhibitions

thumb|Trophy awarded at the Exposition [[regatta by Thomas Lipton.]]

In time, things improved, and portions of the event became spectacular. Planners asked each US state to contribute a building to the Exposition. While some of these buildings offered exhibits on the states' history and industry, others primarily served as quasi-embassies for visitors from the state, providing sitting rooms and guest services. Lack of interest or funds prevented participation by all, but 21 states funded houses, which bore their names: for example, Pennsylvania House, Virginia House, New Hampshire House, etc. During the exposition, days were set aside to honor the states individually. The governor of each state usually appeared to greet visitors to the state's house on these days. On June 10, 1907, "Georgia Day," Theodore Roosevelt returned to the Exposition, delivering a speech on the steps of the Georgia Building, which had been modeled after his mother's family's home. Emily Nelson Ritchie McLean, the President General of the Daughters of the American Revolution, was also in attendance.

The site included a relief model of the Panama Canal, a wild animal show, a Wild West show, and a re-creation of the then-recent San Francisco earthquake. Possibly the most popular attraction was a re-creation of the Battle of Hampton Roads, the first battle between two ironclad warships, the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia, which had taken place within sight of Sewell's Point 40 years earlier during the Civil War. The exterior of the Merrimac-Monitor Building looked somewhat like a battleship, while the interior held a large, circular exhibit describing the battle.

International Naval Review

thumb|left|US Navy officers saluting President Roosevelt onboard [[USS Mayflower (PY-1)|USS Mayflower]]

thumb|right|Japanese battlecruiser Tsukuba

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The event included the naval review of warship fleets on June 10 by President Theodore Roosevelt, who arrived on the presidential yacht Mayflower. As the news coverage of Battle of Tsushima, Treaty of Portsmouth, and President Roosevelt winning the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize for hosting the peace treaty conference at Portsmouth were fresh in the mind of people, display of naval and military technology was an important theme that distinguished this exposition from the World Fairs in the past. The review included the sixteen battleships of the US Navy Atlantic Fleet including USS Georgia and many warships from foreign countries. One such example was the Imperial Japanese Navy cruiser Tsukuba, displaying the newest naval concept of a 'Battlecruiser' that had the speed of a cruiser with the firepower and protective armor of a battleship.

Mark Twain and Henry H. Rogers also paid a visit, arriving in the latter's yacht Kanawha. Ships of two squadrons commanded by Admiral Robley D. Evans stood off in the bay from Sewell's Point. On opening day, an international fleet of fifty-one ships was on display. The assembly included 16 battleships, five cruisers, and six destroyers. The US Navy warships remained in Hampton Roads after the exposition closed and became President Theodore Roosevelt's Great White Fleet under Admiral Evans, which toured the globe as evidence of the nation's military might.

In addition to the ships anchored at Hampton Roads, the exposition provided a campground sufficient to house five thousand troops. Military and "semi-military" men in uniform were admitted for fifty cents for a day's admission. They were permitted to come and go after that as long as they were encamped at the exposition grounds and drilled regularly on the parade ground. This accounts for many of the 43% of people tallied entering the fair daily who did not pay admission. The organizers felt the troops provided informal entertainment and were an attraction to the exposition.

Other technologies

thumb|left|[[Pennsylvania Railroad exhibit|alt=Pennsylvania Railroad exhibit]]

The railroads put on elaborate displays. The Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) displayed its entire F.F.V. passenger train. The New York Central (NYC) electric engine on display was part of its Grand Central Station modernization project in New York City. The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) brought a -diameter section of its new East River Tunnel. The same section was later installed underwater as part of the link to the new Penn Station in New York City, with an inscription that it had been displayed at the Jamestown Exposition.

Other technology included late-model automobiles, auto-boats, and electric and steam traction engines, each in its highest stage of development.

Negro Building

thumb|right|248px|Negro Building, Jamestown Exposition

thumb|A working branch of [[Grand United Order of True Reformers|The True Reformers Savings Bank at the 1907 Negro Building at the Jamestown Exposition|alt=A working branch of The True Reformers Savings Bank at the 1907 Negro Building at the Jamestown Exposition]]

A controversial feature of the exposition was its "Negro Building," designed by W. Sydney Pittman, which displays showed the progress of African Americans. Richmond lawyer and businessman Giles Beecher Jackson was a leader in the formation of the Negro Department at the Jamestown Exposition and had worked hard to raise funds for the exhibition.

The Negro Building exhibit was charged with being a "Jim Crow affair" and criticized by prominent figures like W. E. B. Du Bois who voiced his complaint in Appeal to Reason. However, other Black Americans saw the Negro Building as an achievement. The organizer, Giles B. Jackson, felt that having the exhibition in a separate Negro Hall allowed for a greater variety and completeness of presentation and that it could better highlight the achievements of African Americans. He said a separate building demonstrated black "capacity as a producer and the maker of anything and everything that has been made by other races."

Results

In conjunction with the first day of Exposition, the U.S. Post Office issued a series of three commemorative stamps celebrating the 300th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown. The 1-cent value portrayed Captain John Smith, the 2-cent value depicts the landing of Captain Smith and colonists at Chesapeake Bay, and the 5-cent depicts Pocahontas.

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The Exposition closed on December 1, 1907, as a financial failure, losing several million dollars. Attendance had been 3 million, a fraction of the numbers promised by the promoters. But, it had other benefits for the United States, Norfolk, and Hampton Roads.

Nearly every Congressman and Senator of prominence had attended the exposition, which showcased Sewell's Point. Of naval importance in the early American Civil War, it had been virtually forgotten since shortly after its bombardment and returned to Union control in 1862. The admirals in Norfolk urged redevelopment of the exposition site as a Naval Base to use the infrastructure that had been built.

Nearly ten years would elapse before the idea, given impetus by World War I, would become a reality. The new Naval Base was aided by the improvements remaining from the Exposition, the strategic location at Sewell's Point on Hampton Roads, and the large amount of vacant land in the area. The coal piers and storage yards of the Virginian Railway (VGN), built by William N. Page and Henry H. Rogers and completed in 1909, were immediately adjacent to the Exposition site. The well-engineered VGN was a valuable link directly to the bituminous coal of southern West Virginia, which the Navy strongly preferred for its steam-powered ships.

On June 28, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson set aside $2.8 million for land purchase and the erection of storehouses and piers for what was to become the Navy Base. Of the originally acquired, 367 had been the old Jamestown Exposition grounds. The military property was later expanded considerably. The former Virginian Railway coal piers, land, and an adjacent coal storage facility owned by Norfolk & Western Railway (which merged with the VGN in 1959) were added in the 1960s and 1970s. The base now includes over .

thumb|stock certificate issued to investors in the exposition

Some of the exposition buildings which were taken over by the Navy remain in use , primarily as admirals' quarters for the Navy Base. Thirteen of the state houses can still be seen on Dillingham Boulevard at the Naval Station Norfolk, on what has been called "Admiral's Row." The Pennsylvania House, which through the first part of the century served as the Officer's Club, later served as the Hampton Roads Naval Museum for many years until it was relocated in 1994 to Nauticus on the harbor in Norfolk. Other surviving state buildings on their original sites are the Georgia, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota, Ohio, Virginia, and West Virginia House, as well as the Baker's Chocolate Company House. The remaining state buildings were moved in 1934, including the Delaware, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Michigan, North Carolina, Rhode Island, and Vermont buildings. The Illinois Building was relocated next to the North Dakota Building. The Kenneth L. Howard House at Dunn, North Carolina is a copy of the North Carolina building.

References

External links

Hampton Roads Naval Museum-U.S. Navy Museum in Hampton Roads, VA and holder of many Jamestown Exposition artifacts and papers
Mark Twain and Henry Huttleston Rogers in Virginia, Twain Quotes
"When the World came to Town", Naval Station Norfolk
Jamestown Rediscovery
Sewell's Point 1923 Annexation, City of Norfolk
Hampton Roads Naval Museum
Norfolk City Historical Society
City of Norfolk website, Local History
Civil War and the Battle of Sewell's Point
Civil War Naval History
Norfolk & Western Historical Society. – Covers Virginian history
Virginian Railway (VGN) Enthusiasts. – Non-profit group of preservationists, authors, photographers, historians, modelers, and railfans
listing of Virginian Railway authors and their works