Adelaide Jubilee International Exhibition

Supplement to "The South Australian Advertiser" June 21, 1887. Reprint of a lithograph by Burden & Bonython, Lithographers, Adelaide of the general plan of grounds, floorplans and facias of the western and eastern annexes and main building by Withall & Wells, Architects, Adelaide.

Adelaide Jubilee International Exhibition celebrated 50 years of settlement in South Australia, and showcased produce and manufactured goods from Australian colonies and selected overseas countries. This exhibition also celebrated the jubilee of Queen Victoria's reign. The 'golden jubilee' exhibition was held in the purpose built Exhibition Building, which featured a main hall and dome.

The building was much admired and was subsequently used for numerous other public and institutional uses for a further seven decades before being demolished in the 1960s to make way for the Napier building and adjacent car park and plaza at the University of Adelaide.

For ease of transport of exhibits, a branch line was built from Adelaide Railway Station to the Exhibition Building located further up North Terrace.

The Adelaide Jubilee International Exhibition was modelled on the Great Exhibition of 1851, staged in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, London. It was not a lone imitator, as international exhibitions were staged in many cities around the world in emulation of this first great exhibition of industry and production.

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