WF_Foreign

The 1904 St. Louis World's Fair
Foreign Building Facts

1904 W.F. Society

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition took place from April 30 to December 1, 1904, in Forest Park, St. Louis, Missouri.

Twenty-two foreign countries (by my count below) constructed buildings at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Most buildings had a theme of either a historic building from that particular country, or reflected the country's culture. These countries also had exhibits in many of the Palaces.

About 50 foreign nations participated in the Fair, exhibiting cultures, wares, and artifacts from abroad. The European countries and Japan were particularly well represented with many exhibits in numerous Palaces at the Fair. Countries titled in blue are listed as 'participating' in D. R. Francis' book.

Most of the country buildings were located near the buildings of Washington University in "The Place of Nations", west of what is now Skinker Blvd. However, a few foreign buildings were located elsewhere on the Fairgrounds.

The links on this page take you to the "At The Fair" web page for the foreign building. That page has pictures, information, and descriptions of the Foreign Buildings at the 1904 World's Fair.

The Belgium building, with China's pavilions in the foreground
and the Brazilian building in the left background

These countries constructed buildings at the Fair Country name links to AtTheFair.com
1	Argentina	Reproduction of 3rd and 4th stories of Casa Rosa, the 'pink palace' of Argentina's Presidents
2	Austria	'Moderne Kunst', with statues, fresco paintings, and two towers
3	Belgium	Large, old Flemish construction, round-arched wings, with a dome 133 feet high, and no windows. *After the Fair, Anheuser-Busch purchased Belgium’s building and used it for many years as its glass works at its brewery in South St. Louis.*
4	Brazil	*Updated* Large building, 138 foot dome, circular loggias enclosed by Corinthian columns at both sides. Won Grand Prize for Foreign Buildings. Building was reconstructed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil *in 1906 as "The Monroe Palace" (Palacio Monroe). It served for many official and governmental purposes until it was demolished in 1976.*
5	Canada	Henry VII Gothic building
6	Ceylon (Sri Lanka)	Designed after The Temple of the Tooth, "Delada Maligwa", at Kandy, famous Buddhist temple.
7	China	Reproduction of Imperial Commissioner Prince Pu Lun's country (summer) residence, elaborate entrance and pagoda
8	Cuba	Typical Havana mansion, with Corinthian columns and shaded veranda
9	France	Reproduction of Grand Trainon at Versailles, built by LouisXIV, with large fenced-in gardens
10	Germany	On East side of Art Hill. Reproduction of central part of Charlottenburg Schloss (castle of Frederick of Prussia), called "Das Deutsche Haus". German Wine Restaurant was connected by an arbored walkway. German Railroad Exhibit was near Administration building.
11	Great Britain	Red brick reproduction of the Orangery, the banquet hall at Kensington Palace, London. **The building was used as Washington University's Art School until 1926, when it was demolished.**
12	Guatemala	Small colonial building
13	Holland (Netherlands)	18th Century Dutch residence reproduction
14	India (East India)	Reproduction of temple (tomb?) at Itmad-ul-Dowlah at Agra, India, minarets on four corners
15	Italy	Greco-Roman temple architecture building, replica of an acient villa in the age of Caesar. Ionic columns on entryway, and Italian Garden.
16	Japan	Japanese Gardens near Ferris Wheel, 7 large buildings, tea houses, lakes, etc., many exhibits in Palaces. Included exhibits from Formosa. A few buildings were dismantled and reconstructed near Monticello New York by Dr. Jokici Takamine, as a summer retreat named "Sho-Fu-Den", the Palace of Pines and Maples. Now owned by the Japanese Heritage Foundation and being restored.
17	Mexico	Two-story colonial with tower.
18	Nicaragua	Spanish Renaissance building of simple design, smallest foreign building
19	Persia (no link)	Small Pavilion in Court of Palace of Varied Industries, showing art treasures
20	Siam (Thailand)	Replica of Ben Chama Temple in Bangkok
21	Sweden	Swedish farmhouse and carriage house (three-part building), fabricated in Sweden and transported to the Fair. Purchased and donated to Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas, a Swedish town, by the U.S. Minister to Sweden, W. W. Thomas Jr. in 1904. Later relocated to the McPherson County Old Mill Museum by the Smoky Valley Historical Association
22	U. S. Government (no link)	Large building with exhibits from all government branches

These countries also constructed buildings at the Fair, but they were classified as concessions
1	Ireland	Official buildings and exhibits were on The Pike, in the Irish Village, including Blarney and Cormac's Castles, and the House of Parlaiment. Categorized as a concession.
2	Morocco	Large, walled exhibit near Jerusalem with theaters and bazaars. Categorized as a concession

These countries did not construct buildings, but did participate in the Fair with exhibits, either officially (government-sponsored) or with unofficial (commercial) exhibits. The participation of countries in RED is still being researched, and may not have occurred.
1	Australia	(New South Wales) Some exhibits in the Palaces, mining and agriculture
2	Bulgaria	Several exhibits in the Palaces
	Colombia	Being researched
3	Costa Rica	Exhibits in Palace of Agriculture
4	Denmark	Many exhibits in several of the Palaces
5	Egypt	Many exhibits in the Palaces
6	Ethiopia	Some exhibits in the Palaces
7	Greece	Unofficial exhibit of Cognac brandies
	Guadaloupe	(Possibly Guatemala? Being researched)
8	Haiti (Hayti)	Exhibits of Cognac brandies
9	Honduras	Some exhibits in Palace of Agriculture
10	Hungary	Some exhibits in the Palaces
11	Iceland	Embroidery exhibit in Palace of Fine Arts
12	Monaco	Oceanographic exhibit in Palace of Education
13	New Zealand	Some paintings and exhibits in the Palaces (with Maori representation)
14	Norway	A few commercial exhibits
15	Peru	Paintings and Exhibits in the Palaces
16	Portugal	Several exhibits in the Palaces
17	Roumania (Rumania)	Unofficial representation of confectionery in Palace of Agriculture
18	Russia	Withdrew from official participation due to war with Japan. Unofficial paintings and exhibits in many Palaces, kiosk in Transportation palace
19	San Salvador	Coffee exhibit in Palace of Agriculture
20	South Africa (Rhodesia)	Some exhibits in the Palaces. Transvaal Colony had insect exhibitor. Boer War concession.
21	Spain	No official participation; some unofficial exhibitors in the Palaces
22	Switzerland	Non-government sponsored, merchants built at Swiss Chalet pavilion in the center court of Palace of Varied Industries
23	Turkey	Single exhibitor of confectionery in Palace of Agriculture
24	Uruguay	Unofficial exhibit in Palace of Agriculture
25	Vatican	Large display of "Treasures" in a Washington U. building
26	Venezuela	Many exhibits in several of the Palaces