The Virginia Building, Charles K. Bryant, of Richmond, architect, is as significant historically as any on the grounds. It is a complete reproduction of George Washington's home at Mount Vernon, down to the spinning room, the detached kitchen and the servants' quarters, and furnished in part with Washington's own furniture loaned by Miss Nannie Randolph Heth, of Virginia, the official hostess of the building. There is Washington's chair, Mrs. Washington's work box, Nellie Custis' music stand, and many other relics of the Father of his Country. The remaining furniture, also loaned by Miss Heth, consists of antique specimens brought over from England in colonial days.
The West Virginia Building, designed by H. Rus Warne, of Charleston, W. Va., while not copying any individual structure, suggests well-known colonial types. Its veranda, in particular, is like that of the home of the Lees at Arlington. The chief room is the long reception hall, where logs always burn in a huge fireplace, typifying the warmth of West Virginian hospitality.
The Mississippi Building, Overstreet and Spencer, of Jackson, architects, was designed to suggest the old-style Southern mansions. Some of its motives, especially the pillared portico, were taken from the old capitol building at Jackson. The displays contained in it are chiefly agricultural. Mississippi is also represented in the Exposition palaces.
The Ohio Building, designed by Albert Pretzinger, of Dayton, is a copy, on a smaller scale, of the classic State House at Columbus. Containing no exhibits except the relics shown by the State Historical Society, the building serves the social side of Ohio's participation in the Exposition. Its upper floor is entirely occupied by suites for the Governor and the Commissioners.
The Indiana Building, designed by J. F. Johnson, of Indianapolis, represents a type of modern Hoosier dwellings. It is of permanent construction, of sandstone and brick with a tiled roof, and unique in the fact that all of the materials used and all the furnishings are Indiana products. State pride appears again in the library of 15,000 volumes, confined entirely to the works of Indiana authors and books about Indiana. In addition to the building, which is wholly an exhibit, Indiana is well represented in the Exposition palaces.
The Illinois Building, designed by State Architect James Di Belka, of Chicago, is perhaps the best exhibit of the State at the Exposition. (p. 180.) It is a dignified three-story structure of the Italian Renaissance. The Sculptured tablets of the facades represent the history and progress of Illinois. The exhibits within are of unusual interest. The Lincoln Memorial Room, made possible by Mrs. Jessie Palmer Weber, contains a great collection of photographs, letters and relics of Lincoln, and many articles connected with his life. The valuable series of films prepared by the Chicago City Planning Commission is shown in the moving-picture hall. This building contains a fine pipe organ on which frequent recitals are given.
The Wisconsin Building, designed by R. A. Messmer & Co., Milwaukee, in the colonial style with wide porticoes, contains one of the State's best exhibits in its interior finish of fine Wisconsin hardwoods. The floors are all of maple and the paneled wall of birch. "Old Abe," the famous Wisconsin war eagle, stands above the main entrance. Over the fireplace in the reception room is a panel in relief, "The Progress of Wisconsin." The building is used a headquarters for Wisconsin visitors.
The Iowa Building, Clinton P. Shockley, of Waterloo, IA., architect, is a classic structure, finished, like most of the state buildings, in the Exposition travertine. It does credit to the public spirit of Iowa business men, who, in default of a legislative appropriation, supplied the funds.
The Missouri Building, designed by H. H. Hohenchild, of St. Louis, is a structure of real distinction in the Georgian style. (p. 180.) It copies no Missouri building, and is historical only in its pleasant combination of architectural features much used in early days. The building is of permanent construction and after the Exposition closes is to be turned over to the Government as a club house for the army,—this as a compliment to Major-General Arthur Murray, who, like so many other eminent Americans, hails from Pike County. The Missouri Home, as it is called, is used as a gathering place for visiting Missourians, and for the strong Missouri Society of California.
The Kansas Building, Charles Chandler, of Topeka, architect, is a pavilion in the style of the Italian Renaissance. It is a club house, devoted solely to the comfort and entertainment of visitors. Strong exhibits are made by the state in the palaces of Agriculture, Horticulture, Food Products, Education, and in the Live-Stock Section.