The World's Columbian Exposition, named in celebration of the 400th anniversary Christopher Columbus's arrival in the Americas, was a World's Fair held in Chicago from May 5 to October 31, 1893. The Fair covered 690 acres, and featured cultural, industrial, horticultural, architectural, and scientific exhibitions from across the United States as well as forty-five other nations.

One of those exhibitors was the Pennsylvania Railroad Company (PRR). Founded in 1846, the PRR was a leading industrial and transportation force throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. At its peak in 1882, the company boasted the largest railroad (by traffic and revenue), the largest transportation enterprise, and the largest corporation in the world.

The Pennsylvania Railroad Company's exhibit at the World's Columbian Exposition was housed in a dedicated pavilion located near the fairground's 64th Street entrance, immediately northeast of the fairground's station for passengers arriving by rail. The exhibition housed within the pavilion building and on the surrounding grounds offered visitors access to physical artifacts, historic rolling stock, model stations and equipment, maps, memorabilia, and photographic views related to the company's history and services.