The Jamestown exposition was one of a series of international fairs staged throughout the United States following the success of the world's first, the Crystal Palace Exhibition in London in 1851. Organized to celebrate the 300th anniversary of Jamestown's founding, the expo was located approximately thirty-five miles down the James River, near Norfolk. Compared to fairs such as those in Philadelphia (1876), Chicago (1893), and St. Louis (1904), the Jamestown Exposition was neither a commercial success nor did it attract visitors in impressive numbers. In fact, the New York Times dubbed it "the most colossal failure in the history of expositions."