By William “Skip” Deegans
Shown in the photograph is the West Virginia Building that was built for the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. The Wheeling architectural firm of Giesey and Faris beat out twelve other architectural firms in a contest to design the building. It was 76 x 76 feet and built of West Virginia materials, including Sycamore interior woodwork and a decorative metal ceiling. Regarded as one of the handsomest exhibits, it was dedicated on July 2 by West Virginia Governor A. B. White who addressed the 1,000 guests in attendance.
In addition to displays in the building that promoted West Virginia’s coal, gas, and timber industries, there were some unusual attractions reported to be on exhibit. One was the table on which Generals Grant and Lee signed the articles of capitulation that ended the Civil War. The signing took place at the home of Major Wilmer S. McLean in Appomattox Court House, Virginia. The table was purported to have been passed down to McLean’s daughter, Nannie Spillman, who lived in West Virginia. However another account of the table is that Major McLean gave it to General E. O. C. Ord of the Union Army for kindness he showed McLean’s son. Later, it was given to the Chicago Historical Society.
Another item was the order for the execution of Henry Wirz for war crimes. Wirz was the commandant of the Confederate Army’s Andersonville prison. He was hanged on November 10, 1865, and the exhibit included a piece of the hanging rope.
The St. Louis fair was a massive undertaking that covered 1,200 acres that made it the largest World’s Fair to date. There were 30 state buildings, and it was reported that as many as 22,000 workers were employed building the fair. Included in the fair were Olympic competitions which included archery – the only Olympic sport open to women at the time.
At the conclusion of the fair, the Chicago House Wrecking Company received the contract to tear it down and salvage what it could. With the exception of a few structures that were left standing, some 2,000 workers removed everything else. Salvaged were 100 million board feet of lumber, 20 railroad cars of barrels of nails, 3 million lbs. of copper wire and 1 million light bulbs.
Photo courtesy of the West Virginia University West Virginia Regional History Center.
Sources: Missouri History Museum, The Weekly Register, West Virginia Argus, Martinsburg Herald, Chicagology, University of Michigan.
