The History of Our Fairs
The first one was authorized by tlie Gen¬
eral Assembly of 1749. Since then there
have been many changes in both exhibits
ainl entertainment features.
NOW that the season of com¬
munity. county and state
fairs has arrived again in
North Carolina, I believe it might
be interesting to readers of The
State to take a look at the origin
and development of these inter¬
esting events in this state.
The origin goes back about two
hundred years ago when Solomon
Jordan owned the "state fair¬
grounds." Jordan was a comfort¬
ably-fixed farmer with lands lying
on the north side of the Roanoke
River in Northampton County.
The General Assembly of 1749,
the first legislature on record which
provided for state fairs, passed an
act establishing the town of Hawn’s
on Jordan’s lands wherein would
be held two fairs each year.
In 1777. in spite of the turmoil
of revolution and the task of sup¬
plying foodstuffs to the Continental
troops, the Legislature provided
for two fairs a year to be held at
Halifax, and the provision for this
was renewed two years later. Eden-
ton was another place which the
Legislature designated as a "fair-
Sounds that shall be central to
e majority of the populace."
Indians Were Interested
All this took place seventy-five
years and more before the first
plank road, before the cotton gin
and the steamboat. Many of the
local Indians attended the "fairs"
and displayed their tanned deer
hides, super ears of maize and
species of native melons. It is re-
l>orted that a number of settlers
were able to improve their crops
of Indian corn as a result of select¬
ing the best ears brought to the
"fairs" by the redskins.
Ily JAM ICS HI. IIOKII4SON
LOT OF RESEARCH
Mr. Robinson recently com¬
pleted the manuscript for a
book, which he calls
"Л
History of Agriculture in
North Carolina.” The book has
not yet been published. The
accompanying article is part
of a chapter that has to do
with the history and develop¬
ment of state fairs.
After justice had been done to
the agricultural exhibits, wrestling
matches took place and rivalry was
keen among the contenders, both
white and red. The Indians' trick
of greasing the body was quickly
adopted by the white wrestlers,
and because of the difficulty of
getting a solid hand-hold, the game
of grunt and groan might last two
hours or more before a fall. Canoe
races were held and also log-roll¬
ings, and while the Indians had
plenty of agility and speed, the
white man’s stamina usually gave
him victory.
The womenfolk vied with one
another in the making of quilts,
shawls, preserves and in the spin¬
ning of native mixtures of wool
and cotton, the seed from the latter
being picked out by hand at the
rate of one pound of lint per day.
Prizes, usually in the form of
useful articles, were awarded for
the best tobacco, rice, indigo and
flax. The Governor and his Lady
were usually in attendance at
these affairs and the prizes were
awarded with great ceremony.
In 1819 the State Agricultural
Society was formed, but the first
state fair was not sponsored by
this organization until 1853, in
which year was held the first real
state fair. The fair struggled along
manfully, although mostly “in the
red," until 1861 when the War
erased it from everyone’s thoughts.
It was back again to play an im¬
portant autumnal role in the lives
of North Carolinians in 1879, and
every year thereafter it became
the mecca for huge crowds each
fall.
The Era of Gay Nineties
Probably the hey-day of the old-
time fair' was during the "gay
nineties" when the entire week
was spent in a round of theater
parties, dances and other functions
which actually made the fair a
side issue. These were the days
of snappy parades, of competitive
drill by State Companies and by
cadets from Bingham’s and from
Horner’s military academies: the
days of the dare-devil balloon
ascensions and the pitchman in
front of his little tin-type booth:
the days of parasols and bustles,
of resplendent carriages and high
check-reined horses with tails cur¬
ried and like as not tied with a
blue ribbon.
Special attraction at the fair of
1892 was Pawnee Bill’s Wild West
Show with cowboys and Indians
and a sprinkling of hard-bitten.
S -bearded trappers. Gordon W.
э
was "Pawnee Bill" and his
show was a big favorite with the
crowds.
The old Yarborough Hotel in
Raleigh I burned to the ground
July 3. 1928) was the scene of the
big ball during fair-week, and in
the ballroom of the former Capital
Club building another festivity
would be scheduled nightly. In
addition there were other dances
in Stronach’s warehouse, decorated
lavishly for the occasion.
By now the fairgrounds had
moved from the east of Raleigh to
land situated opposite State Col¬
lege and a special spur of the Sea¬
board Railroad ran from Hargett
Street directly to the fairgrounds.
THE STATE. October 1. 1949
