Existing comment:
The Builders:
Amid the fury of design, planning, organization, and construction, David Francis wrote, "the World's Fair site was perhaps the busiest spot on the continent." The Louisiana Purchase Exposition Company employed an army of 10,000 workers who used cranes, tractors, horse teams survey kits, blasting equipment, and freight trains to reshape the land. The real heroes of this effort, however, were the laborers who worked in all kinds of weather to sculpt the land, law sewer pipes, reroute the River Des Peres, and construct the magnificent buildings.
The laborers transformed Forest Park from a rough wilderness into the largest World's Fair in history. In the process, they forged new and lasting trade agreements and earned respect for the diverse building trades. |