Search Anything

Revisit 1876 Exhibition

The Lits Building, corner entrance, 8th & Market Sts. | Monday-Saturday, June 25 – December | 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

The Centennial Exposition of 1876: Recreated on Market East

In 1876, Philadelphia made history, hosting the first World’s Fair in North America, attracting millions of visitors from across the country and around the world, In 2026 we’ve recreated that experience at 8th and Market in the historic LITS building, just two blocks west of Independence Mall.

Visitors in 1876 marveled at huge new machines. They encountered the typewriter and telephone for the first time, along with popcorn and root beer. They climbed into the arm of the Statue of Liberty, displayed to raise funds for the full monument.

Relive these experiences at Revisit 1876 and learn of those left out. Eleven years after the Civil War, the country had become an industrial powerhouse yet still wrestled with the unfinished work of Reconstruction. Prominent abolitionist Frederick Douglass was prevented from speaking at the opening ceremony. Women fought to be included in the official narrative and exhibits. Factory workers and laborers, who built the fairgrounds, were just beginning to organize to reshape workplace conditions. This exhibition offers a more complete story about Philadelphia in 1876.

It also tells of the origins of Philadelphia’s rowhouse neighborhoods, the rise of new modes of transportation, and the birth of the city’s tourism industry — and even 19th-century predecessors of Instagram and Airbnb. It invites visitors to explore destinations across the city connected to the Centennial.

For more details, view the Revisit 1876 exhibition brochure here.

Donate to help us staff this important Philadelphia story!

Exhibit Highlights

Revisit 1876 invites today’s guests to explore the sights, stories and spirit of 1876, connecting historic images and objects to Philadelphia’s current destinations.

01 / 03
Revisit 1876 exhibit illustration of Alexander Graham Bell

Alexander Graham Bell displaying the first telephone.

Revisit 1876 exhibit - arm of the Statue of Liberty

The arm of the Statue of Liberty holding the torch.

Portrait of Frederick Douglass

Portrait of Frederick Douglass.

Announcement about the first typewriter

Announcement about the first typewriter.

Revisit 1876 photo of the first Corliss steam engine.

Display of the first Corliss steam engine.

01 / 03

The Center City District Foundation is proud to present this new exhibit, opening June 25 through December on the ground floor of The Lits Building at 8th and Market streets.

Sponsors & donors

  • Brickstone Realty generously donated the space and secured support from others to build out the space.
  • Connelly Foundation
  • Funders Collaborative for 250th
  • Aker Family Charitable Trust
  • Five Below
  • Philadelphia Parking Authority
  • AT&T
  • Brandywine Realty
  • Eugene Lefevre
  • Gie Liem
  • Poor Richard’s Charitable Trust
  • Preservation Alliance for Greater Philadelphia
  • Urban Engineers
  • IBEW – Local 98
  • Eastern Regional Council of Carpenters
  • Gilbane Building Company
  • Michael & Sandra Dean
  • Hether & Don Smith

Project team

  • Exhibit design: ISA
  • Curation: Drexel University’s Lenfest Center for Cultural Partnerships and Atwater Kent Collection
  • Fabrication: Art Guild 
  • Video production: Moltoduo

In the News