Seattle World's Fair
The Seattle World's Fair, officially known as Century 21, took place in 1962 and was a significant event celebrating advancements in technology and the space age. Organized with substantial financial backing, including contributions from the city, state, local businesses, and the federal government, it marked Seattle's designation as the only recognized international fair in the U.S. for that decade. The fair spanned seventy-four acres and featured a 1.2-mile monorail connecting to the city’s business district, enhancing its accessibility. The Space Needle, a striking six-hundred-foot structure, became the fair's iconic symbol and attracted nearly twenty thousand visitors daily. Exhibiting the innovations of seventy-two U.S. industries and forty-nine nations, the fair served as a global showcase for technological progress. The event's legacy continued through the development of the Seattle Center, which included various cultural and recreational facilities. The fair not only commemorated the achievements of the time but also laid the groundwork for Seattle’s ongoing cultural evolution.
Subject Terms
Seattle World's Fair
Date: April 21-October 21, 1962
Opened by President John F. Kennedy using remote control in Palm Beach, Florida, on April 21, 1962. The fair recorded 9.6 million visitors and became the first single-year fair in history to make a profit.
Origins and History
Seattle business leaders campaigned for the world’s fair as early as 1955 as a commemorative event that would outshine the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exhibition. The city and state pledged $20 million, local businesses raised $4.5 million, and the federal government contributed $9 million. Joseph E. Gandy was successful in a request to the Bureau of International Expositions to designate Seattle as the only recognized international fair in the United States for the decade.
The Fair
Century 21, as the fair was known, highlighted the space age and technological advancements. The futuristic fair was set on seventy-four acres and linked by a 1.2-mile monorail to Seattle’s business district. The Space Needle, the fair’s signature structure, hosted almost twenty thousand visitors per day. Seventy-two U.S. industries exhibited their products, and forty-nine nations showcased their respective technological advances.
Impact
The six-building science complex formed the nucleus of the Seattle Center, which opened with an eight-hundred seat playhouse, an opera house, a sports coliseum, an international fountain, the Science Center, and a lasting landmark, the Space Needle, towering six hundred feet in the air.
Additional Information
Peter T. White and photographer Winfield Parks published a photoessay on the fair entitled “Seattle Fair Looks to the Twenty-first Century” in the September, 1962, issue of National Geographic.