It took a while for Wayne fair to settle on dates, length
The earliest Wayne County Fair of all time was the 1928 rendition, a four-day fair that began Aug. 7, but the extreme heat kept people away, and gate receipts were down $4,000 from the previous year.
Editor’s note: This is the second of a three-part series on the history of the Wayne County Fair, celebrating its 175th anniversary this year.
While the Wayne County Agricultural Society’s search for the perfect location for a fairgrounds was the top priority, its members also were searching for the perfect date to conduct the fair, as well as the perfect number of days to allow for the event.
The very first Wayne County Fairs, held at the property owned by David Q. Liggett, were two-day affairs held in early to mid-October. These fairs were true agricultural events with farmers showing their horses, cattle, pigs, sheep and chickens. These were judged, and premiums were awarded to the winners. Beyond livestock, household products like bread, butter and cheese were judged.
By the fifth fair, held in early October 1854, the number of days had advanced to three, and a two-day fair was never again held. The added day was used in the judging of new categories like needlework, flowers and house plants, and paintings and drawings.
In 1859 the Wayne County Fair was moved to the new 8-acre fairgrounds north of Park Street in Wooster, purchased from Ephraim Quinby. It remained at this location through 1868. All fairs held at this location were three days in length, operating from late September through mid-October. Heavy rain marred six of the 10 fairs held at this location.
In 1868 the Wayne County Fair moved once again to a new fairgrounds 1 1/2 miles west of town. At 24 acres it was three times the size of the Quinby site and included a full-size racetrack. Fairs held at this site were conducted from late September through early October, and most were three days in length. The first four-day fair was held Sept. 27-30, 1876. The fourth day may have been an attempt to compete with the Central Ohio Fair, which was held in Orrville in mid-October.
Lack of support from the general and farming community led to unsustainable debt for the Wayne County Agricultural Society, and the fairgrounds were sold at public auction. The high bidder was Andrew Branstetter. It sold for $3,200.
A new society was formed to operate the Wayne County Fair. The Independent Agricultural Society of Wayne County would conduct three fairs, two of them three days and one four days in length. All three of these fairs occurred in late September to early October.
In the end this agricultural society failed, just like its predecessor. From 1881-86, no fair was held.
In 1886 a new Wayne County Agricultural Society was formed, its origins being the Wooster Driving Park Association. The grounds were north of Christmas Run Creek in Wooster, where the current Wayne County Fair is held.
Over the following 137 years, except for 1952 when the fair was canceled due to the polio epidemic, a fair has been held annually. The Wayne County Fair had found its home, although it has moved around the calendar considerably.
On the one extreme, there were three Wayne County Fairs held entirely in the month of August. The 1897 and the 1909 fairs were conducted on the same days, Aug. 25-27. But the earliest Wayne County Fair of all time was the 1928 rendition, a four-day fair that began Aug. 7. The thought here was it would fall between busy seasons for farmers and could boost participation, but the extreme heat kept people away, and gate receipts were down $4,000 from the previous year. It was never tried again.
On the other extreme were the 1855 and 1916 fairs, with a final day of Oct. 13.
Over the next two decades, there was a gradual shift toward a September fair. The last fair with any days in October was in 1936, held Sept. 29 through Oct. 2.
The following year the modern fair was born. Since then all fairs have been held within the date range of Sept. 6-19. Some were four-day fairs; some were five days. In 1959 the six-day fair began, and it’s been that way ever since.
Part three will focus on the evolution of the Wayne County Fair at its current location.
“Looking Back” author Mike Franks is a local historian. He can be emailed at mlfranks@gmail.com.