The genre really took off after 1915, when organizers of the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego chose to build the fairground buildings in Spanish Colonial style. They and their chosen architect, Bertram Goodhue, eschewed Greek or Roman grandeur for the influences of Spain, Mexico and the missions. Within Balboa Park, Goodhue said, they built "a city in miniature … meant to recall to mind the glamour and mystery and poetry of the old Spanish days."

Source: Los Angeles Times April 28, 2018 12:22 UTC