100 years ago millions of people flocked to san francisco to see the wondering and pageantry of the mid-pacific. a world build out of a dream. famous inventors and new inventions delighted the crowd as the displays of daring and speed. hollywood celebrated the fair in a silent comedy. but the fair was a triumph

built on shaky ground. and that led to the tragedy at the marina district. that is all coming up ahead on a second look. good evening and welcome to a second look.i'm julie haener. this year san francisco celebrates an event that marked the rebirth of the the city and changed its landscape forever. the panama pacific international exposition opened to enthusiastic crowds on february 20th 1915. to mark the centennial last month. the palace of fine arts was lit up as it was on that opening day. the palace showed the nation that san francisco has rebuilt following the earthquake. the loma p rieta earthquake hit in october of 1989. craig heaps explains in this

1982. >> reporter: the area of san francisco known as the marina district looked like this. a glorious display. in 1989 it looked like this, a glaring disaster. so what's the connection between this, and this. one word, sand. it all has to do with an idea that germinated and grew in the rubble of 1906 earthquake. the quake and fire destroyed nearly 4/5 of the building in the city but surprisingly by 1909 almost all had been rebuilt. it was time to tell the world san francisco was back. and then of course the panama canal. >> there was always a need to have something to celebrate such as the panama canal. but san francisco wanted to

show they rebuilt their city. i think one of the slogans was the city that knows how. >> reporter: so came the concept of the panama pacific exposition. the world's fair of 1916. raising as much as $16,000 and beating out cities such as san diego, washington, d.c. and new orleans, san francisco won the federal government's designation to hold the official fair to honor the opening of the panama canal. fair organizers decided to make land and build the fair in a marshy area in the north shore of san francisco. etched with creeks and coves. work began in 1911 and that's where the sand came in. this is fillmore street in the marina district. the bay lies about a block and a half that way. back in the early 1900s, the shoreline used to be over there across the street. that was solid ground but this was water. a cove where people used to tie

up their boats. that is until the builders of the pan pacific expo filled it with sand. sand made up about 70% of the material dredge from the bottom of the bay and used it as fill. that part of the project took more than three months. and then on top of the fill, workers constructed the exhibition halls in courtyards that would cover the exposition grounds. when the fair closed 10 months and 18 million visitors later, the city simply tore it down. >> it was not made to last. and the city didn't own most of the land on which it was built. they had to lease it. in fact, very few parcels actually belonged to the city. and so it was always meant to be temporary. >> unfortunately because all of the buildings were built of lath and covered with a plaster called jute, it was basically burlap that was impregnated

with plaster. >> reporter: houses went up here. a lot of them built right over sandy fill and the rubble of the pam pacific expo. it was a seismic time bomb that would not go off until 1989. when the loma prieta earthquake hit. many of the buildings in the marina district ended up collapsed. an aerial picture shows how widespread the damage was. >> we're looking at buildings that were built in the 20s and 30s. and our cities really didn't have buildings code back then that addressed the earthquake hazard. >> reporter: especially not to survive the effects of

something called liquifaction. the phenomenon in which soils turns to jelly and magnifies an earthquake. tom holser says that the process was state of the art at the time they did it. >> the engineers at the time were surprised of the sand settling. because when they got clay it was very compressible: they engineered it to be very clean. that's what is liquifaction. >> reporter: as strong as the force of the earthquake was. the mushy soil actually made it even stronger. >> the sand rests on younger and older bay mud. and what we've learned over the years is that this kind of soil can amplify ground shaking. so that was another reason why

the marina district suffered as badly as it did. >> what about the seismic -- the soil is still the same. craig heaps for a second look. still to come on a second look, take a tour of the 1915 expo including the tower of jewels. a beacon the wonders waiting within. from aviators to incubators to sailors with amazing skills. the thrills lasted into the night at the fair.

note note ♪ ♪ celebrated in song, the pam

pacific celebration. architects, artists and landscape gardeners planned and erected a city straight out of a beautiful dream. on the day the fair opened 250,000 stood outside the gates to get a first look at that beautiful dream. built on what had been 630 acres of marsh land. and as george watson reported on the 75th an anniversary of the fair, the expo proved to be a financial as well as popular success. >> reporter: this was the site of the scott street entrance to the exposition. today it is the intersection of tusk and chestnut street. you would be confronted by the fountain of energy and beyond that looming above the entire exposition the gleaming tower of jewels.

covered with 100,000 pieces of glass with a tiny mirror placed behind each one, the tower glistened in the glow. from the beginning it was a success beyond anybody's wildest dreams. it was thought the great war in europe would discourage people from coming but the war's effect was just the opposite. easterners who would normally go to europe on vacation changed their plans and headed west instead. a promotional film was everyone shown in movie houses exposing the beauty of the exposition instead of the ugliness of war. in the 9-1/2 months it was open it drew 89 million people and closed with a profit. a great accomplishment for a world's fair. but the real reason for its

success was the exposition itself. it was 2-1/2 miles long. ran from point east to van nuys avenue. in all it covered 635 acres and for the 50-cent price of admission it was yours. >> the courtyards were the future and the buildings formed the walls to the courtyards so that each courtyard was given to a different architect of a different architectural firm. it was all together quite remarkable. >> reporter: the scale of everything was enormous. the dome of the horticultural palace was bigger than st. peters in rome. the tower of jewels was -- yet it was gracefully set in a beautiful lagoon. it housed its own special

beauty made it the favorite of fairgoers. the grounds were so huge, transportation had to be plentiful. you could get around by electric car, motorized trains, or even on a miniature train. the exposition was a field of dreams with the war a world away. >> reporter: one of the most popular exhibits of the fair displayed premature babies being treated in a new life saving device. the incubator exhibit was the brain child of dr. martin coby. but it was not the first time the incubators had been showcased in a world's fair. it had first been showcased in berlin in 1863. the exhibit in san francisco brought in $72,000 in just 10

months. this photo shows one of the graduates from the incubators at the time his father was taking him home. the baby had reportedly weighed 1-1/2 pounds at birth. by all accounts, survival rates were good. though the display of babies in incubators was criticized by some. dr.coney also set up a permanent display at the coney island amusement park. according to published accounts, 8, 8,000 premies were treated. what became of the buildings after it closed.

when people came to the panama pacific, international exposition of 1915 they knew they would get a look at modern marvels they had likely never seen before. the exhibits were connected by

an incredible 47 miles of walk ways. it has been said it would take people years to see all the walk ways. >> reporter: the exhibitions never seemed to end. with rides and games it was a gigantic carnival mid-way. hawking the wonders of the rides such as a trip to the south pole. the streets of cairo, a submarine journey or the aeroscope which lifted 50 people at a time and swung them around the sky. captain sigsby the educated

horse. laura engel wilder was already known for her little home on the prairie tales attended the fair. she described the wonder she had seen. an indian village, a samoan village, japanese wrestlers, hawaii gardens, australian trees and kangaroos. she set an side and entire day just to visit the cows and horses and the dogs of all nations. including the canines that had gone to the north pole with kerry. that she wrote was a disappointment. although europe was torn by a world war and some nations that had planned to build exhibit halls decided not to. it was still truly a world's fair. 22 nations did build halls. france constructed a copy of -- private enterprise was not to

be outdone, delmonte piled cans, and every day, there was another event. metro motion picture day brought out the stars of the film industry. joining them charlie chaplain who was making pictures at the time across the bay in the east bay city of niles. betty arbukel and norman everyone made their short film about the fair. it was truly a show fit for a king. but lacking royalty american settled for celebrities and they came to the pan pacific

exposition in abundance. including the famed composer of the time susa. whether they were there to watch the camel races, or the dutch sailors demonstrate their proliss. the show did not stop when the sun went down, in fact, in some ways it had just begun. every building was lit with indirect lighting. and the sky was alive with lights. >> the break water out toward the st. francis sits now was a huge array of church lights, 48 church lights that were on two

tiers. t i ers. when there wasn't a fog bank they used -- >> we went to the gates just as dusk then we watched the dream city light up. soon along finger of while lights swept across the sky then another and another of different colors. and then there was a flashing and a fading across the whole sky in that direction. the most beautiful northern lights effect you could imagine. >> but it wasn't just the ground lights illuminating the skies. planes went along with lights. fairgoers try to explain what

we missed. >> it was a miniature exhibit, they took you around a movable -- a car. and you traveled all the way around the circumference of the exhibit so you could see how the canal worked. >> reporter: there were special days set aside to celebrate the inventors. men who were more popular than the presidents of their day. when thomas edison arrived, he asked to take a tour of the city and asked to take a ride in a contraption called a car. the man who made cars affordable, henry ford was also there. former president teddy roosevelt had authorized the

american effort to build the panama canal at the exposition celebrated. and franklin roosevelt attended as the assistant secretary of the navy. it was also a fair of firsts. first transcontinental telephone call. top speed 60 miles per hour. for the first time, an airplane flew at an exposition and for many people it was the first time they had ever seen an airplane. it was also the first time an airplane crashed at an exposition. three weeks after the fair opened, a dangerous stunt went wrong. san francisco's famed aviation pioneer lincoln beachy died when his plane spun into the

beach. so a variety of motorists were around. people could take a motorized car, a motorized train or a flier. buildings were never made to last. >> when the fair came to an end the walls of the beautiful dream city began tumbling down. what people tried to save and what remains.

when the party that was the panama pacific international

exhibition came to an end. the towers and buildings that had welcomed millions came tumbling down. back in 1990 a select few were spared the wrecking ball. >> reporter: the panama pacific international exposition was a way to ease the pain of the san francisco earthquake and celebrate the joy of recovery. yet today, all that remains at the palace of fine arts a building so beloved that people began lobbying to save it almost immediately after the fair opened. the palace eventually had to be saved again back in the 1960s. it was falling apart and had to be torn down and rebuilt with concrete. one other exposition building does survive but it was technically not part of the fair. the exposition auditorium today's civic auditorium was built by the exposition and given to the city.

little is left from the exposition. the exposition was a wonder to millions of people. but to a relatively small group it was strictly business and on december 4, 1915 it had to close. >> there was considerable agitation to preserve the buildings and preserve if you couldn't preserve at all to preserve some of the buildings. that couldn't be done partly because contracts had been made with developers that they would have the land back for development. partly because the buildings were never meant to last. >> reporter: there was some efforts to save the california state building and turn it into a school. but instead it was torn down and sold for salvage for $30,000. the ohio state building was barged down to san mateo where it became a speak easy. the exposition company was first offered $4,700 for all

the salvaged rights. if company contracted out the project themselves and wound up getting $60,000. developers began building the marina district. it was hoped that it would revitalize san francisco's troubled economic fortunes. but as grand as it was, prosperity couldn't do it. san francisco's economy did not turn around until america entered world war i. >> and that's it for this week's second look. i'm julie haener, thank you for watching.

this household. it certainly is. so exciting. nothing like starting a new job. or finally coming into your own at a job you already have. yeah. the promise of something new. the rewards finally being -- opposite things being equally good. cheers. mm. yes. i have accepted a job at the c.f.j., the center for justice.

not, it turns out, a secret headquarters for superheroes. aww. no, it -- it kind of is. [ chuckles ] it's a legal-aid society founded by a law-school friend of mine. i will be an advocate for the people a voice for the voiceless. and just as important... oh, thank you. tonight, i am chaperoning the spring-a-ding-fling, a fundraiser, a dance, which, under my stewardship, has shattered school records. yeah. and i added the "a-ding." it used to just be called the spring fling. [ chuckles ]