The Louisiana World Exposition: New Orleans' Last Great World's Fair

In the summer of 1984, New Orleans hosted the world. The Louisiana World Exposition — the last World's Fair held in the United States — drew nearly 8 million visitors to an 84-acre site along the Mississippi River. It was, for a few months, the center of everything.

The Theme

The fair's theme was "The World of Rivers — Fresh Water as a Source of Life," which felt perfectly suited to a city built at the meeting of the Mississippi and the Gulf. The site stretched along the riverfront in what was then an industrial district — warehouses, rail yards, and the bones of an older New Orleans that was being cleared to make room for something new.

Participating nations built pavilions that filled the fairgrounds with food, music, and culture from around the world. The Spanish Pavilion, the Japanese Pavilion, the Vatican Pavilion — all of them brought something to a city that already had more culture per square mile than almost anywhere in America.

What It Left Behind

The fair was also, financially, a disaster. The organizing corporation went bankrupt before the exposition even closed, making it one of the most troubled World's Fairs in American history. But what it left behind was significant. The fairgrounds were transformed into what is now the Warehouse District — one of the most vibrant arts and dining neighborhoods in New Orleans. The Ernest N. Morial Convention Center was built on the site. The riverfront was opened up in ways that permanently changed how New Orleanians related to the Mississippi.

The fair also left something less tangible: the memory of a summer when the whole world came to town, and New Orleans — true to form — threw one hell of a party.

The Louisiana World Exposition '84 New Orleans Retro T-shirt is a nod to the last great American World's Fair. Find it in the New Orleans collection.