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288 DAYSSan Francisco · 1915 ⌕
Gazetteer › The Zone
The Zone

Cyclorama of the Battle of Gettysburg

A round cyclorama building on the Zone's south side showing the Battle of Gettysburg in a 360-degree painting.

The cyclorama of the Battle of Gettysburg on the Zone
The cyclorama of the Battle of Gettysburg on the ZoneThe Blue Book, official souvenir view book (Robert A. Reid, 1915), via Internet Archive / San Francisco Public Library · Public domain (published 1915, United States) · Restored

Both the 1914 Exposition Fact Book and the 1915 Official Guide list a "Cyclorama Battle of Gettysburg" among the Zone's principal concessions. Cycloramas were circular paintings hung inside a round building. Viewers stood on a central platform, surrounded by the battle, with real objects in the foreground blending into the painted scene.

Todd's official history, which describes dozens of Zone concessions, never mentions this one by name (he puts the Aeroscope 'between a cyclorama and a roller coaster', some 1,500 feet east of this lot, so either the Zone had a second cyclorama or one of the two placements is off), and the sources consulted do not say which of the several Gettysburg cycloramas then touring was shown. The spring 1915 concessions map does place it, as a round building labeled "Gettysburg" among the shows between Buchanan and Laguna Streets.

At a glance

  • Listed in the Official Guide (1915) and the Exposition Fact Book (1914).
  • Shown on the spring 1915 concessions map as a circular building.
  • Not named in Todd's five-volume history, which mentions only 'a cyclorama' beside the Aeroscope.

Afterward

Demolished with the Zone in 1916.

Where it stood

Cyclorama of the Battle of Gettysburg stood at about 37.80104 N, 122.43193 W on today's map. The whole fairground over the city →

Sources