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288 DAYSSan Francisco · 1915 ⌕
Gazetteer › States & Nations
Foreign pavilion · States & Nations

Canadian Pavilion

The largest foreign pavilion, three 220-foot halls of dioramas, live beavers, wheat-belt trains and real apples behind a colonnade guarded by British lions.

Canadian Pavilion, color postcard
Canadian Pavilion, color postcardPacific Novelty Co., 1915, public domain · Restored

Canada's pavilion, by E. Wright of London, was a fine classical building with fluted columns and broad verandas on both fronts. Two British lions guarded the north steps. It had about 70,000 square feet of floor, 65,570 of it for display, arranged in three halls 220 feet long, lit from the roof. Its exhibits were ready weeks before the Exposition opened.

Inside, the country was shown in dioramas and specimens. There were live beavers at a dam, groups of buffalo, moose and musk-ox, Dawson City by night, Vancouver, and a wheat belt with moving trains. A 480-pound block of cobalt ore stood near displays of fish, timber and 250 grasses. There were real apples. Todd reckoned it the one thing in California that could make a Californian briefly wish to live somewhere else.

Probably it was the only thing ever seen in California that would give a real Californian the most fleeting unfaithful desire to live somewhere else.

Frank Morton Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. 3, p. 294 (1921)

At a glance

  • About 70,000 sq ft of floor (65,570 for display); three halls 220 ft long and 40, 30 and 30 ft wide.
  • Outer structure $235,000; interior finish $114,000 more (Todd). The Official Guide gives $300,000 for the pavilion and $300,000 for other participation.
  • Dedicated February 25, 1915, on the north steps between the lions (Todd gives February 24 in one chapter).
A wildlife display in the Canadian Pavilion: a heron at the edge of a pond, with rocks and a forest behind
A wildlife display in the Canadian Pavilion: a heron at the edge of a pond, with rocks and a forest behindSouvenir Canadian Pavilion, Panama · No restrictions · Restored
A wildlife display in the Canadian Pavilion: an eagle in flight over a rocky pond in a pine wood
A wildlife display in the Canadian Pavilion: an eagle in flight over a rocky pond in a pine woodSouvenir Canadian Pavilion, Panama · No restrictions · Restored
Inside the Canadian Pavilion: a crest and Union Jacks over a diorama of a western wheat field, with mineral cases on either side
Inside the Canadian Pavilion: a crest and Union Jacks over a diorama of a western wheat field, with mineral cases on either sideSouvenir Canadian Pavilion, Panama · No restrictions · Restored
Inside the Canadian Pavilion: the "Farm Scene, Eastern Canada" diorama above cases of ore specimens
Inside the Canadian Pavilion: the "Farm Scene, Eastern Canada" diorama above cases of ore specimensSouvenir Canadian Pavilion, Panama · No restrictions · Restored
The Canadian pavilion
The Canadian pavilionThe Blue Book, 1915 · Public domain (published 1915, United States) · Restored
Riches of Canada: the Canadian exhibits
Riches of Canada: the Canadian exhibitsTodd, vol. III · Public domain (published 1921, United States) · Restored
The Canadian Pavilion
The Canadian PavilionTodd, vol. III · Public domain (published 1921, United States) · Restored

Afterward

Not recorded; presumably auctioned and wrecked. The site is Presidio land near Crissy Field.

Where it stood

The Canadian Pavilion stood at about 37.80351 N, 122.45349 W on today's map. The whole fairground over the city →

Sources