Copper Panels , Main Library Grand Reading Room

Alcove 10:
Tennessee Centennial

The 1897 Centennial, which took place in Nashville's West Side (now Centennial) Park, was organized to celebrate Tennessee's 100 years of statehood. It was a grand exposition, with electric lights strung across temporary buildings housing exhibitions on industrial, social, agricultural and cultural achievements.

Panel 1 pans around the "white city" of temporary structures positioned around the artificial Lake Watauga.

Panels 2 and 3 show fireworks and the statue of Athena in front of the replica of the Parthenon, which served as the art exhibition hall.

Panel 4 captures the statue of Daniel Boone that stood on the Exposition site. It was borrowed from sculptor Enid Yandell, who also created the large-scale Athena in her Paris studio.

In Panel 5 we see a carriage parade, one of many, during the six-month long exposition that drew 1.8 million visitors.

Alcove 11: Turn of the Century Nashville