About 236 acres of Fairmount Park in Philadelphia were occupied by the Exhibition. The ground was admirably adapted for the purposes of the Fair. It was an elevated plateau, with three spurs jutting out toward the Schuylkill River. One of the three spurs was occupied by Memorial Hall, containing the art exhibition, another by Horticultural Hall, and the third by Agricultural Hall, while the broad plain where they joined contained the Main Building, Machinery Hall, United States Government Building, and about a hundred smaller structures. The grounds were traversed by five main avenues, a belt-line railroad, and many miles of minor walks. There was an extensive lake, and a splendid wealth of lawns, flower beds, and groves.
The Main Building was the largest edifice in the world. It was 1,876 feet long and 464 feet wide, covering 21½ acres of ground. In the centre were four square towers, 120 feet high. The facades at the end were 90 feet high, and the corner towers 75 feet. The central aisle was 1,832 feet long, 120 feet wide, and 70 feet high. The framework was of iron, filled in with wood and glass. Nearly one-third of the space was occupied by American exhibitors. Great Britain and her colonies occupied the next largest area, with a display of enormous proportions and dazzling brilliancy. A single firm of silversmiths sent half a million dollars’ worth of wares. France and her colonies and the German Empire were also splendidly represented. Other conspicuous exhibitors were Holland, Belgium, Austria, Russia, Spain, Japan, Sweden and Norway, Italy, and China. Mexico, Brazil, Switzerland, Portugal, Egypt, Turkey, Denmark, Tunis, Chile, the Argentine Republic, Peru, the Orange Free State, the Sandwich Islands, and Venezuela were also represented. Never before had there been gathered together in one place such a comprehensive display of the arts and industries of so many of the peoples of the world.
Machinery Hall, which was especially devoted to machinery in motion, was 1,402 feet long and 360 feet wide, with an annex 208 by 210 feet for hydraulic machinery. There were more than 10,000 feet of shafting for conveying to the various machines the motive power generated by the huge Corliss engine. This enormous machine had cylinders of 44 inches diameter, and ten feet stroke, a fly-wheel 30 feet in diameter, and 56 tons in weight, making 36 revolutions per minute. There were 20 tubular boilers of 70 horse-power each, and at 60 pounds pressure the work of the engine was about 1,400 horse-power. This building contained by far the largest and most varied display of working machinery that had at that time ever been seen in the world.