The purpose of the Exposition, like previous Expo's was to bring interest to the local economy. In this case Hampton Roads, Virginia. It was a private venture put together by local businessmen and supported by the local cities. At a late stage Congress loaned $1M to the expo. Despite issuing stock certificates money was always short. April 1907 was the opening date and yet most of the buildings were either incomplete or had no exhibits well into May 1907.The pier for travellers arriving by boat was not completed until September 1907, six weeks before the Expo closed in November 1907. There was a road and rail link which were built for the Expo but ended well short of the Expo and visitors had to take a very long walk, discouraging anyone wanting to visit again. That walk earned the Exposition the nickname of the "Imposition'.

In order to get support from the nearby towns of Hampton Roads it was built on Sewell's Point, a location that was about equal distance from each town and thus would not favor any town. Unfortunately Sewell's point was nothing but fields with no infrastructure, one of the biggest expenses was bringing sewage and water to the site. The organisers built a giant water tank which the visitors emptied every day and filled up overnight.

It was forecast there would be 6 million visitors, but only 2.8 million came and only half of those were paying visitors. A month after the Expo closed the Expo company went bust owing the Federal Government the $1M loan, which the bankruptcy did not clear. For the next year they tried to persuade the Federal Government to build a Naval base on the site. Only succeeding when WWI came along.

Today most of the building can still be found on the Naval base, although only eight are in their original location.