Terre Haute Centennial Celebration 1876
At the Hulman
& Company/Clabber Girl Museum we try to give our visitors
a look at the past and help them imagine how life was in Terre
Haute in the early days. On our west side windows we have installed
window film with photographs from the 1800’s. The first
window shows a picture of Wabash Avenue with a beautiful archway
across the road. Flags and banners adorn the buildings on each
side of the street, and people are looking out windows in anticipation
of some event. The view was from 5th and Main (Wabash Avenue),
Hulman & Company’s former location.
The date was
July 4, 1876. The Terre Haute Centennial Celebration was just
getting underway. A massive and beautifully decorated archway
stretches across Main Street, with a proclamation that makes all
visitors welcome.
The Centennial
Celebration of 1876 was a grand, elaborate event for all cities
across the Nation. A huge Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia
celebrating the nation’s 100th birthday began in May and
continued for several months. It has been noted that Herman Hulman
took his family to this fabulous exhibition.
The townsfolk
of Terre Haute decided they would have their own celebration that
would not be out done. According to the Terre Haute Sunday Express,
on June 6, 1876, Mayor Edmunds held a meeting of citizens and
they decided that they would “…get up such a celebration
as would startle the American eagle and astonish the people of
Indiana and Illinois”.
Every home
in the town was to be decorated for the event. The most lavishly
decorated homes were given honorable mention in the Terre Haute
Gazette. Herman and Antonia’s home were one of those mentioned.
Main Street (Wabash Avenue) was ornately decorated by the merchants,
and the Fairgrounds were prepared to host thousands of visitors
for the jubilant affair.
Terre Haute
Sunday Express, July 1, 1876: The parade was to [start at
Market (Third Street) and] “Ohio to Second, north on Second
to Main (Wabash) east on Main to Seventh, north on Seventh to
Chestnut, east on Chestnut to the depot, and from thence, those
wishing to continue, to the fairgrounds.”
The city extended
invitations to hundreds of individuals and organizations, and
many acceptances were published in the Gazette during the month
prior to the celebration. Thousands of people came to Terre Haute
for the parade and celebration that began at 10 a.m. on July 4th.
It was reported that the parade was “A procession three
miles in length, and beautiful as the morning.”
The Centennial
was a success for Terre Haute, and all their hard work was well
received by the visitors. It should be noted, however, that this
was not the only time a magnificent arch crossed the city’s
main street.
In 1898 the
merchants of Terre Haute began a series of Street Fairs that were
designed to benefit tradesmen and advertise the city. The first
fair began on October 10 1898, lasted a week, and brought thousands
of visitors to the city. Two archways were built for this occasion,
and the downtown merchants decorated their storefronts in special
themes. The fair was titled “Street Fair and Peace Jubilee”,
and was hosted along Main Street.
Visitors were
entertained with free shows between Third and Eighth Streets,
and vendor stands on the streets. Free music, Couchie Couchie
girls, lions and buttered popcorn were also there. A floral parade
on October 12 was the highlight of the affair and featured a Tally-Ho
from Indianapolis decorated with 5,000 roses. Fifty gentlemen
escorted the fair queen on horseback as it traveled its route.
As the visitors
left the Fair, they purchased commemorative ribbons and badges
as a souvenir of their trip. Many of these items and photographs
of the early fairs are now at the Vigo County Historical Society.
*Information
on Street Fairs provided by the Vigo County Historical Society.
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