1 Treasure Island, today a suburban community,
was originally created for the 1939 World’s 2 Fair. The
World’s Fair was a celebration of international culture and
technology. In the midst of the economic uncertainties of
the Great Depression, Treasure Island and its accompanying
fair offered a glimpse of optimism and provided San
Francisco a platform from which to showcase its latest
innovations.
At the beginning of the 1930s, 3 San Francisco along
with the rest of the country was reeling from the effects
of the Great Depression. Looking for an opportunity to
improve San Francisco’s local economy, the city’s politicians
4 were seizing upon the idea of hosting a World’s Fair.
5 They reasoned that a platform for global attention and
tourism would draw business, and that the construction of
the fair would also create jobs. Leland W. Cutler, a local
business leader, was appointed president of the committee
tasked with seeking funding for the project. Cutler found
a funding solution in US President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration.
To help get Americans who had lost their livelihoods
back to 6 work. President Roosevelt established the New
Deal programs in 1933. One of these programs, the Works
Progress Administration (WPA), created jobs mainly in the
form of public works projects, such as constructing bridges
and other 7 building-related New Deal infrastructure
projects. The WPA awarded Cutler a $5 million grant for
the World’s Fair project.
[1] Workers built a rock sea wall and filled it with 29
million cubic yards of mud and sand from the depths of
the bay and the Sacramento River Delta. [2] The planning
committee chose to locate the fair on the Yerba Buena
Shoals, a sandbank submerged under shallow water in
the middle of the San Francisco Bay. [3] With all of this
material, they were able to build the island to a mere 13
feet above sea level. [4] It was named Treasure Island as
a tribute to California’s Gold 8 Rush—the economic
venture, that had allowed the state to succeed early in its
history. 9
Seventeen million people visited the fair during 10
its two-year run from February 18 to October 29, 1939, and
May 25 to September 29, 1940. 11 Thousands of workers
earned jobs, both through the construction of the island
and at the Fair itself. The influx of tourists also generated
funds for businesses in the city and allowed San Francisco
to exhibit two of its newest accomplishments, the Bay
Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge, on a global scale.
was originally created for the 1939 World’s 2 Fair. The
World’s Fair was a celebration of international culture and
technology. In the midst of the economic uncertainties of
the Great Depression, Treasure Island and its accompanying
fair offered a glimpse of optimism and provided San
Francisco a platform from which to showcase its latest
innovations.
At the beginning of the 1930s, 3 San Francisco along
with the rest of the country was reeling from the effects
of the Great Depression. Looking for an opportunity to
improve San Francisco’s local economy, the city’s politicians
4 were seizing upon the idea of hosting a World’s Fair.
5 They reasoned that a platform for global attention and
tourism would draw business, and that the construction of
the fair would also create jobs. Leland W. Cutler, a local
business leader, was appointed president of the committee
tasked with seeking funding for the project. Cutler found
a funding solution in US President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration.
To help get Americans who had lost their livelihoods
back to 6 work. President Roosevelt established the New
Deal programs in 1933. One of these programs, the Works
Progress Administration (WPA), created jobs mainly in the
form of public works projects, such as constructing bridges
and other 7 building-related New Deal infrastructure
projects. The WPA awarded Cutler a $5 million grant for
the World’s Fair project.
[1] Workers built a rock sea wall and filled it with 29
million cubic yards of mud and sand from the depths of
the bay and the Sacramento River Delta. [2] The planning
committee chose to locate the fair on the Yerba Buena
Shoals, a sandbank submerged under shallow water in
the middle of the San Francisco Bay. [3] With all of this
material, they were able to build the island to a mere 13
feet above sea level. [4] It was named Treasure Island as
a tribute to California’s Gold 8 Rush—the economic
venture, that had allowed the state to succeed early in its
history. 9
Seventeen million people visited the fair during 10
its two-year run from February 18 to October 29, 1939, and
May 25 to September 29, 1940. 11 Thousands of workers
earned jobs, both through the construction of the island
and at the Fair itself. The influx of tourists also generated
funds for businesses in the city and allowed San Francisco
to exhibit two of its newest accomplishments, the Bay
Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge, on a global scale.