To commemorate the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence a worlds fair was held in Philadelphia in 1926.

As with previous world fairs the sponsors could not agree how the worlds fair could benefit the local business community. With everyone advancing their own interests. The population of Philadelphia was not in favour of the fair, seeing little benefit for them, in fact they thought they would be taxed to pay for it as they had turned their back on the shares that were offered. The people did want the fair in their town so the organizers were left with building the fair on swampy ground outside the town. This fair was following the playbook of the disastrous Jamestown Exhibition (see #330).

Due to a labor shortage the construction wages were higher than anticipated and because of its location a whole new infrastructure had to be built. This would mean new sewers, roads, communication links etc etc. With little money coming in and a lot going out they needed to make the fair a success to recoup the investment.

Despite this the organizers did build five large palaces and a 18th reconstruction street. They even started construction on a 75-foot tall Tower of Light that was designed to cast a beam of light seventy miles. And that is where the money ran out, half way up the tower. And folks were unimpressed by what was on offer. Not many came. So bad was attendance it opened for an extra month to try and sell their unsold stock.

And there it ended, $5.8 million in debt and a city that never again wanted to see a worlds fair (even saying no to a 1976 bicentennial worlds fair fifty years later).