It was created for the Panamanian-Pacific exhibition in 1915.
This exhibition was held in San Francisco due to the completion of the construction of the Panama Canal.
One of the few structures preserved from the time of the exhibition and the only one located on the original site.
Among the exhibits at the exhibition was the very first Southern Pacific railway locomotive, now located at the California State Railway Museum in Sacramento. The exhibition ran a telephone line to New York so that people across the continent could hear the Pacific Ocean. The Liberty Bell, one of the main symbols of the American struggle for independence, was brought to the exposition from Philadelphia, making its way through the whole country. The Grand Prix of America and the Vanderbilt Cup were held around the exhibition complex.