Illinois's building, by State Architect James A. Dibelka, was about 140 feet long, 100 deep and three stories high. It carried relief friezes over its main entrances and the names of great Illinoisans under the cornice. The Official Guide calls it a reproduction of the state capitol; Todd does not. In practice it was a temple to Abraham Lincoln. Its Lincoln room held about 40 portraits, facsimiles of more than 100 letters and a cast of the life mask, and as many as 500 schoolchildren a day came through.
An assembly hall had motion pictures and a grand organ, with concerts twice a week. The organist Clarence Eddy played at the dedication on February 26, 1915.
At a glance
- About 140 by 100 feet, three stories.
- State appropriation $300,000 (Official Guide and Todd).
- Dedicated February 26, 1915.
Afterward
Not recorded; presumably auctioned and wrecked.
Where it stood
Illinois Building stood at about 37.80462 N, 122.45187 W on today's map. The whole fairground over the city →
Sources
- Frank Morton Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. III (1921), ch. LVIII, pp. 311-312
- Frank Morton Todd, The Story of the Exposition, vol. III (1921), ch. LXIX, pp. 357-360
- Official Guide of the Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915), p. 55