The decision to host a world's fair in a city that had been devastated less than a decade earlier was audacious. San Francisco's business and political leaders saw the exposition as an opportunity to prove to the world that the city was not merely rebuilt but better than before. The fair's buildings, designed in a mix of Mediterranean, Moorish, and classical styles, were arranged around courtyards and gardens that created a fantasy cityscape along the bay shore. The Tower of Jewels, the fair's centerpiece, was hung with over 100,000 cut-glass gems that sparkled in the sunlight and the beam of a massive searchlight at night.

The exposition showcased the technological achievements of the early twentieth century. A working model of the Panama Canal demonstrated the engineering feat that the fair celebrated. Ford Motor Company operated an assembly line that produced a new automobile every ten minutes. The first transcontinental telephone call was made from the fairgrounds, connecting San Francisco to New York. The Liberty Bell was transported from Philadelphia for display. The fair also featured entertainment zones, international pavilions, and art exhibitions that drew visitors from around the world.

When the fair closed in December 1915, almost everything was demolished. The reclaimed land became the Marina District, a residential neighborhood built on the same unstable fill that would liquefy during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Only the Palace of Fine Arts survived, preserved by popular demand and eventually rebuilt in concrete. The exposition's greatest legacy may be the confidence it restored: San Francisco had burned to the ground and rebuilt itself, then hosted the world to prove it.