History - The Horticultural Building, Chicago 1893 #2

World's Columbian Exposition - Chicago 1893

Second part of the story...

Under the Horticulture Building Dome - The largest hothouse in the world had sights worth seeing. The great dome of the Horticulture Building, one hundred and eighty feet in height and one hundred and fourteen feet in diameter, overhung a charming scene where gigantic palms, ferns, bamboos and other products or tropical growth were flourishing, and where one coming in from the grounds outside seemed transported suddenly to some equatorial country. Directly underneath the dome in the center of the building rose a mountain of greenery, one side of which is shown in the illustration, while an encircling gallery afforded room a further display of the glories of nature at her best.

All lovers of trees and plants and flowers spent a great deal of time underneath the big dome, wondering at the luxuriant development of things ordinarily almost dwarfish in a climate such as ours, and inspecting a host of thriving objects absolutely new to them. The mountain of plants and trees was called the Cave of Palms, for it was a cave, reached by a bridge over the water of a little lakelet, and here were charming results produced by lights upon the rocks and water, for water was abundant, miniature cascades tumbling down the sides of the mountain and assisting in the production of many delightful effects before reaching the level of the ground. Very attractive, was the horticultural showing, not merely because of the magnificent display beneath the great dome, but because of the wonderful variety and extent and quality of exhibits in every department.

The City of Palaces Album, 1893.

To be continued...