Southern Exposition

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Series of world's fairs held in Louisville, Kentucky

Southern Exposition

Portion of poster for 1884 Southern Exposition

Overview
BIE-class| Unrecognized exposition
Name| Southern Exposition
Area| 45 acres (180,000 m2)
Location
Country| United States
City| Louisville, Kentucky
Venue| Louisville's Old Louisville neighborhood.

The Southern Exposition was a five-year series of world's fairs held in Louisville, Kentucky, from 1883 to 1887 in what is now Louisville's Old Louisville neighborhood. The exposition, held for 100 days each year on 45 acres (180,000 m2) immediately south of Central Park, which is now the St. James-Belgravia Historic District, was essentially an industrial and mercantile show. At the time, the exposition was larger than any previous American exhibition with the exception of the Centennial Exposition held in Philadelphia in 1876. U.S. President Chester A. Arthur opened the first annual exposition on August 1, 1883.

## Highlights

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One highlight of the show was the largest to-date installation of incandescent light bulbs, having been recently invented by Thomas Edison (a resident of Louisville sixteen years before), to bring light to the exposition in the nighttime. The contract with the Louisville Board of Trade was for 5,000 incandescent lamps. 4,600 lamps for the exhibition hall and 400 for an art gallery, more than all the lamps installed in New York City at that time, were used.

George H. Yater writes in his book Two Hundred Years at the Fall of the Ohio:

> The Exposition was the first large space lighted by incandescence and many electrical pioneers felt that the Louisville success did more to stimulate the growth of interior electric lighting than any other Edison plant.

"Birds-eye view of Louisville from the river front and Southern Exposition, 1883" by William F. Clarke

## See also

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* Amphitheatre Auditorium, built with materials from the nearby dismantled remains of the Southern Exposition building
* St. James Court Art Show, held in the same location

## References

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* Yater, George H. (1987). Two Hundred Years at the Fall of the Ohio: A History of Louisville and Jefferson County (2nd ed.). Filson Club, Incorporated.

## Further reading

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* Bush, Bryan S. (2011). Louisville's Southern Exposition, 1883-1887: The City of Progress. Charleston, South Carolina: The History Press. ISBN 978-1-60949-143-7.

## External links

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* "'Went to the Exposition Tonight': Louisville's 1883 Southern Exposition" — Article by Kathryn Anne Bratcher of The Filson Historical Society
* "Southern Exposition: 1883-1887"[usurped] — Article by Civil War historian/author Bryan S. Bush

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List of world's fairs in the United States

* American Institute Fair
* Exhibition of the Industry of All Nations
* Centennial Exposition
* International Cotton Exposition
* The American Exhibition of the Products, Arts and Manufactures of Foreign Nations
* Southern Exposition
* World Cotton Centennial
* North, Central and South American Exposition
* Piedmont Exposition
* International Industrial Fair
* World's Columbian Exposition
* World's Fair Prize Winners' Exposition
* California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894
* Cotton States and International Exposition (1895) (Atlanta Exposition)
* Irish Fair
* Tennessee Centennial and International Exposition
* Trans-Mississippi Exposition
* California's Golden Jubilee (1898)
* Greater America Exposition (1899)
* National Export Exposition
* Pan-American Exposition
* South Carolina Inter-State and West Indian Exposition
* Louisiana Purchase Exposition
* Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition (1905)
* Irish Industrial Exposition
* Jamestown Exposition
* World's Pure Food Exposition
* International Mining Exposition
* Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition
* Hudson–Fulton Celebration
* Portolá Festival
* Admission Day Festival
* International Mercantile Exposition
* National Conservation Exposition
* National Star-Spangled Banner Centennial Celebration
* Panama–Pacific International Exposition
* Negro Historical and Industrial Exposition
* Lincoln Jubilee and Exposition
* Panama–California Exposition
* Bronx International Exposition of Science, Arts and Industries
* California Liberty Fair
* American Historical Review and Motion Picture Exposition
* French Exposition
* California's Diamond Jubilee
* Sesquicentennial Exposition
* Pacific Southwest Exposition
* Yorktown Sesquicentennial
* Century of Progress
* California Pacific International Exposition
* Texas Centennial Central Exposition (1936)
* Great Lakes Exposition
* Greater Texas & Pan-American Exposition
* Pan American Fair
* 1939 New York World's Fair
* Golden Gate International Exposition
* Century 21 Exposition
* 1964 New York World's Fair
* HemisFair '68
* Expo '74
* 1982 World's Fair
* 1984 Louisiana World Exposition

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