Ohio House served as a clubhouse and exhibition hall during the 1876 Centennial Exhibition. It stood on States Drive accompanied by buildings representing Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland, Tennessee, Iowa and Missouri. Ohio House is the only one to survive into the 21st century thanks to its sturdy masonry construction. After the Centennial Exhibition closed, Ohio House was used as a residence, offices and as an information center for the 1976 Bicentennial celebration. State of Ohio House was constructed with stone representing the natural resources of Pennsylvania’s neighbor to the west. Sandstone and limestone from 20 different quarries form the building’s construction with the trade name and that of distributor and mason as well as the location of the quarry carved into one block of each type of stone. Each type is also tooled differently to display a full range of finishing techniques.

1876 U.S. Centennial Exhibition
              Almost ten million people passed through the gates of the Centennial Exhibition of 1876 during its six months of existence from May 10 until November 10, 1876. The exhibition covered an area of 236 acres in Fairmount Park. Never before had there been such an amazing display of the resources and ingenuity of the young country. While the U.S. consumed most of the display space, many foreign countries were also showcased. A mural behind the coffee bar in the Centennial Café shows the vibrancy of the Main Building, with attendees garbed in a variety of national dress engaged in animated conversation. Turbans, saris and proper Victorian suits are all evident in this reproduction of an etching of the time.

• The arm and torch of the Statue of Liberty were first shown here.
• Philadelphia pharmacist Charles Hires introduced his beverage of root beer
• Alexander Graham Bell demonstrated the first telephone
• Northwest coast totem poles were shown on the east coast for the first time
• Heinz Ketchup made its debut
• The confection known as shoo-fly pie was created as “Centennial Cake”