It is remembered today primarily for being the location of the assassination of United States President William McKinley at the Temple of Music on September 6, 1901.

[6] The planning committee considered some twenty different locations for the exposition and after much consideration and deliberation a 350-acre tract in the western area of Delaware Park was selected.

)[8][6] In March 3, 1899, Congress pledged $500 000, and publicly declared that "it is desirable to encourage the holding of a Pan-American Exposition on the Niagara Frontier in the City of Buffalo, in the year 1901, fittingly to illustrate the marvelous development of the Western Hemisphere during the Nineteenth Century, by a display of the arts, industries, manufactures and the products of the soil, mine and sea...The "Pan American" theme was carried throughout the event with the slogan "commercial well being and good understanding among the American Republics."

[9] In the months preceding the exposition promotional pamphlets, newspaper articles, guide books and other publications were published and released around the United States and elsewhere.

Post Offices in Buffalo post-marked out-going mail with a number of different specially made postmarks inscribed with the words, "Pan-American Exposition, 1901".

Arriving during the preparatory stages of the Exposition, they erected various long houses that were once commonplace in their home lands of central New York, while they were attended by various translators.

[20] Lina Beecher, creator of the Flip Flap Railway, attempted to demonstrate one of his looping roller coasters at the fair, but the organizers of the event considered the ride to be too dangerous and refused to allow it on the grounds.

[23] Other attractions included The Great Amphitheater, Joshua Slocum's sloop, the Spray, on which he had recently sailed around the world alone, the Trip to the Moon exhibit, a mechanical dark ride that was later housed at Coney Island's Luna Park.

On the last day of the exposition, Saturday, November 2, a sham battle was staged at the Stadium at the Pan-American Exhibition The several hundred participants included the six tribes of American Indians, dressed in traditional garb, and the United States Infantry stationed at Buffalo.

[24] The exposition is often remembered because it was the location where United States President William McKinley was assassinated by an anarchist, Leon Czolgosz, at the Temple of Music on September 6, 1901.

[25] McKinley's presence at the Exposition was widely advertised by newspapers and magazines which played a significant role in attracting many thousands of people to the event.

The newly developed X-ray machine was displayed at the fair, but doctors were reluctant to use it on McKinley to search for the bullet because they did not know what side effects it might have had on him.

Similar to previous world fairs, most of the buildings were constructed of timber and steel framing with precast staff panels made of a plaster/fiber mix.

[40] Prior to its demolition, an effort was made via public committee to purchase and preserve the original Electric Tower from the wrecking company for nearly US$30,000 ($1.1 million in 2023 dollars[8]).

A stone and marker on a traffic island dividing Fordham Drive, near the Lincoln Parkway, marks the area where the Temple of Music was located.