While Independence Hall stood anchored in Philadelphia, its most famous artifact, the Liberty Bell, traveled the nation and became a more timeless, inspirational symbol. In seven journeys by rail between 1885 and 1915, the bell with its signature crack drew enormous crowds as it resonated with the idea expressed by its inscription: “Proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof.”

1885: New Orleans (World’s Industrial and Cotton Exposition) [link to news coverage]

1893: Chicago (World’s Columbian Exposition) [link to news coverage]

1895: Atlanta (Cotton States and International Exposition) [link to news coverage]

1902: Charleston, South Carolina (South Carolina Interstate and West Indian Exposition) [link to news coverage]

1903: Boston (Bunker Hill Monument Anniversary) [link to news coverage]

1904: St. Louis (Louisiana Purchase International Exposition) [link to news coverage]

1915: San Francisco (Panama-Pacific Exposition) [link to news coverage]

Above: Detail of photograph of Blackfeet Chief Little Bear posing with the Liberty Bell during its exhibition tour to the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. (Independence National Historical Park)