The Federal Concourse was a small circular plaza at the hinge of the western grounds, where the Esplanade crossed the Avenue of Nations and met the Olympian Way. The Massachusetts Building stood on its west side, facing east, its golden dome closing the long view down the Esplanade from the palaces. Around the circle stood Washington to the north-east, Utah and, in the gore between the Esplanade and the Avenue of Nations, Indiana to the east, and the Philippine Building to the south. On May Day about fifty Filipinos from the Philippine Building held sports here: ring tilting on bicycles, climbing a greased bamboo pole for an American flag, and combats between kites.
The Concourse was a turning point for processions. The Zone Day pageant of May 27, 1915, marched west along the Esplanade to the Massachusetts Building and came back by the Avenue of Nations. The Fadgl auto trains ran the same way, out along the Esplanade to the Massachusetts Building and northwest by the Avenue of Nations to the Marina and the Live Stock section, then back by the Olympian Way past the Philippine Building.
No photograph of the Federal Concourse has turned up yet in the public-domain archives this site draws on. If you know of one, or hold one, send it over and it will be credited here. Meanwhile the photographs page holds 410 pictures of the fair, more than the film uses.
Where it stood
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The Federal Concourse stood at about 37.80399 N, 122.45635 W on today's map. The whole fairground over the city →