Forestry Building
Architect:
Area:
Cost: $10,000
Picturesque World’s Fair, An Elaborate Collection of Colored Views—Published with the Endorsement and Approval of George R. Davis, 1894
THE FORESTRY BUILDING.—None among the many department structures on the Fair grounds was built with more regard for what was symbolic of its uses than the Forestry Building. It stood very near the southeastern corner of the grounds and its eastern frontage was upon Lake Michigan. Its dimensions were five hundred by two hundred feet, and it had a central height of sixty feet. It was made entirely of wood, not even a nail being used but wooden pegs substituted instead. The roofed colonnade surrounding the building, which shows well in the illustration, was upheld by pillars each composed of a group of three tree trunks, lopped of their branches, but with the bark still on them, these trunks all contributions from different States of the Union and Canada and other foreign countrics. The walls of the edifice were of slabs and the roof was thatched with various barks. The main vestibule was of white pine, polished to show the uses of this wood for interior decoration and was made at a cost of $10,000. The graining was something very beautiful. The States and various foreign countries displayed their woods and other forest products inside, and the variety shown was something to astonish the average visitor, all parts of the world, from Japan to Paraguay, being represented. Michigan had in her showing a single load of pine logs weighing three hundred thousand pounds, and Paraguay sent three hundred and fifty varieties of timber. A slab of a mulberry tree which was planted by Shakespeare was one interesting exhibit, and a washtub fifteen feet across was a curious one.
SECTIONS OF TIMBER AND GLADSTONE’S AX.—One of the great “show pieces” in the Forestry Building had a personal attraction in that the implement actually used in chopping by one of the most famous men in the world formed a portion of the exhibit. This was the ax, with its history properly attested, which had been used by Mr. Gladstone in cutting down a tree upon his eightieth birthday. In the center of the building stood a collection of huge sections or trees, remarkable for the fact that no two came from the same region of the earth, and showing a wonderful difference in fiber and dimensions. A huge disk of California redwood, with a placard explaining that when Columbus landed the tree from which the disk was cut was four hundred and seventy-five years old, stood near a cut of oak from feet in height. which came Russia, and a section of white pine from Wisconsin rested beside a giant bamboo, seventy-five feet in height, which came from far Japan. It was a curious and most instructive showing. Mr. Gladstone’s ax was in a glass case which was fastened to the side of the redwood cut and numerous were the conjectures as to how long it would take the statesman to fell such a tree as that! A letter from Mr. Herbert Gladstone, son of of the Premier, formed part of the documentary evidence of the implement’s authenticity, and a printed card gave a history of the manner in which the souvenir was obtained. The ax will be preserved as a memento by one of the great Lumber Trade Association.
The Forestry building is the most unique of all the Exposition structures. Its dimensions are 200 by 500 feet. To a remarkable degree its architecture is of the rustic order. On all four sides of the building is a veranda, supporting the roof of which is a colonnade consisting of a series of columns composed of three tree-trunks, each 25 feet in length, one of them from 16 to 20 inches in diameter and the others smaller. All of these trunks are left in their natural state with undisturbed.
They are contributed by the different States and Territories of the Union and by foreign countries, each furnishing specimens of its most characteristic trees. The sides of the building are constructed of slabs with the bark removed. The window frames are treated in tlic same rustic manner as the rest of the building. The main entrances are ehdi’mitcly tinislii-il in different kinds of wood, the material and workmanship being cdutrilmtvil by several prominent lumber associations. The roof is thatched with tan and other barks. The visitor can make no mistake as to the kinds of tree-trunks which form the colonnade, for upon each is a tablet upon which is inscribed the common and scientific name, the State or country from which the trunk was contributed, and other pertinent information, such as the approximate (juantity of such timber in the region whence it came. Surmounting the cornice of the veranda and extending all around the building are numerous flagstaffs bearing the colors, coats of arms, etc. , of the Nations and States represented in the exhibits inside.
Forestry Building
Chicago, 1893
On page 454, ( The Book of the fair), is a picture of a Walnut tree Stamped Kansas on the end. I believe that tree to be one cut down in Burdette, Missouri. There is a picture on the bottom of log, but can’t make it out. Would love to find the names of the ones who logged it, and picture. It also has 78 inch diameter marked on the bottom.
As a young boy, an old man had told me of such a tree that had been brought here to Adrian, Mo. to be loaded on a train for the World’s Fair. The log was too long and had to be cut and put on two train cars. The old gentleman’s father was one of the crew to help get the log to the rail head. I found three different News Paper Issues to make the statement of a tree 6 and a half in diameter, and 80 feet to the first limb. Had a barrel of honey at the top. Cut down at Burdette. Missouri. World Biggest Walnut tree. (The St. Joseph Herald), Issue Date December 1, 1891. Page 4.
( Indianapolis News Indianapolis,Marion County, 3 Dec. 1891 Page 4), and (Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, Saturday, December 5, 1891)
Shirley Prouty, Arlington, WA March 25, 2017 Researching for the Stillaguamish Valley Pioneer Association about a 300 foot fir tree (that we have pictures of) leaving for the Chicago Worlds Fair.from Bryant, WA. to be used as a flag pole. Do you have any records of this? Stillypioneers@frontier.com
We would like any information about the Pacific Northwest as it was presented at the Worlds Fair. The Verd Mill in Bryant, WA harvested a 300 foot fir tree that was sent to the Fair.