By Bernard A. Nagengast, Life Member ASHRAE
100,000 people attended the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, with many enjoying comfort air-conditioning for the first time in the State of Missouri Building, which had a 30 ton cooling plant that provided 35,000 cfm of cooled air to the lobby, auditorium, offices, hospital and other rooms. Originally it was proposed to install a 1600 ton refrigeration plant to provide pipeline refrigeration for the 1200 acre fairgrounds, including comfort air conditioning for many of the 1500 buildings.
Historical photograph of the Missouri State building.
When the fair opened, the plant had been reduced to 500 tons with cooling in only one building where thousands did enjoy respite from the summer heat, the first time several people of the public experienced air-conditioning.
The St. Louis World’s Fair saw the popular introduction of hamburgers, hot dogs, ice cream cones, peanut butter and ice tea as well as the wireless telephone, fax machine and X-ray. And Jack Daniels won the gold medal for “the finest whiskey in the world”!