Curious Iowa: How did the county fair tradition start?

Whether you go for the food, the competitions or the live entertainment, county fairs are some of the largest events of the year. A total of 105 fairs will be held across Iowa’s 99 counties this year. That means handing out a lot of blue ribbons, cold lemonade and food on sticks.

Kalen McCain of Washington, Iowa, wrote to Curious Iowa, a Gazette series that answers readers’ questions about our state, its people and culture, asking about the history of Iowa county fairs and how the tradition got started.

We dug through history books and newspaper archives and talked with Leo Landis, curator at the State Historical Society of Iowa, to answer the question.

When were the first county fairs in Iowa?

The oldest county fair dates back to the territorial days of Iowa. On July 17, 1841, the Lee County Agricultural Society was organized in West Point in southeast Iowa, and cattle were exhibited. (Iowa became a state in 1846.)

The roots of agricultural fairs can be traced to Berkshire, Mass., in 1807. That’s when Elkanah Watson, a businessman and agriculturalist, drew a crowd after bringing his treasured Merino sheep to Park Square.

Watson believed that bringing farmers together would improve the quality of agriculture, so he formed the Berkshire Agricultural Society.

Agricultural societies were social clubs that promoted improved agriculture, the mechanic arts and domestic manufacturing. They were formal clubs that held annual fairs to showcase new breeds of livestock.

Berkshire would become a bed of innovation.

In 1811, the society held a cattle show which displayed sheep, oxen and cows. The first plowing competition in the country was held in Berkshire County in 1818. Plowing matches showcased the latest farm technology and were popular events, especially in the 1870s.

Horse racing and, later, automobile and motorcycle racing were also fair favorites.

Eastern Iowa fairs

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In Eastern Iowa, a majority of the county fairs were first organized in the 1850s, shortly after Iowa was admitted to the Union. Landis told The Gazette that an early Iowa law can be attributed to the boom.

“In 1851, the Legislature passes a bill saying if counties organize an agricultural society and can raise $25 on their own, the state will match that money to support a county agricultural society,” Landis said.

In 1853, the Johnson County Agricultural Mechanical Society was formed and held its first fair on Capital Square, known as the Pentacrest today. Five thousand people attended.

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The Linn County Fair was first held in 1855 by the Linn County Agricultural Society.

The first few years alternated between Cedar Rapids and Marion until the Fair Board bought land halfway between the towns to “put an end to the rivalry between the two towns and concentrate the whole agricultural interest of the county,” according to “History of Linn County” by Luther Brewer and Barthinius L. Wick.

Agricultural societies expanded fairs to showcase the best crops, canned and baked goods and textile production.

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“The agricultural societies looked to what was being done in the East … and what are the things we want to reinforce as positive traits on the farm and in the home and reward the people who are the best?” Landis said.

“Today, it’s more of a blue ribbon than maybe a cash prize, but back then there was a premium of some sort, whether it be a dollar or a little under that.”

According to August 1854 edition of The Iowa Farmer, Scott County Agricultural Society’s first annual fair distributed $400 in premiums. Those ranged from $10 to “Best conducted farm” to $5 for “Best cow and calf” and $1 for “Best bushel of wheat” and “Best pair woolen mittens.”

When was 4-H established?

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It may be hard to imagine what county fairs would be like without competitions for kids since 4-H participation is ingrained in county fairs today. But did you know the organization is just 122 years old?

4-H was essentially an agricultural society for youth and teens, Landis said, and it revitalized county and state fairs.

“Early 1900s, there is the concern across rural America that farm life is not rewarding for people,” Landis said. “And so President Theodore Roosevelt created something called the Country Life Commission to say, how do we make rural living interesting and enticing and a place where young people want to spend their lives.”

Beyond that, Roosevelt felt it was important that rural schools teach about the farm and home so that children would be prepared for life on the farm.

One of the trailblazers in rural education was Jessie Field Shambaugh, of Clarinda, who is regarded as the “mother of 4-H.”

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Shambaugh was one of the first female agriculture teachers in the country and an organizer of Boys Corn Clubs and Girls Home Clubs. Agricultural clubs, like corn growing clubs, are the seed from which 4-H grew.

In 1910, Shambaugh designed the four-leaf clover 4-H pin, which symbolizes the organization’s values related to the head, heart, hands and health. By 1912, youth agricultural clubs were called 4-H clubs.

“The whole idea of 4-H just revolutionizes the county fairs in the 1910s into the 1920s because it’s ways to promote children staying in agriculture. ... And so if you’re going to send your child to the State Fair competition in 4-H, you need to have a county fair for them to qualify,” Landis said.

Landis said that through the decades, the values of agricultural societies have been preserved through the fair tradition and strengthened by the addition of groups like 4-H and FFA.

“I think that’s why our state fair, or some of these regional fairs, are so good, too, is we still have this rich rural element in our state,” Landis said. “So it’s a way for an increasingly urban population to understand history (and) the continuity of the ruralness of our state and the importance of agriculture and rural communities and smaller communities in our state.”

What does it mean to be a part of the fair?

The tradition of the fair builds deep relationships over decades.

“You know ... the people that you’ve been showing cattle against for the last 40 years or 60 years or more in some of those communities,” Landis said. “You may see them in social situations in other ways, but nothing like the county fair or the state fair where you need to be there with your livestock.”

Mike and Max Petzenhauser have a small sheep and goat farm in Roland, in Story County in central Iowa. Both men have been involved in county fairs and caring for livestock since they were little. This year was their first time judging the sheep show at the Washington County Fair together.

Raising animals is a full-time job, Mike said.

“It’s a labor of love,” he said. “We spend pretty much all day, every day out in the barns with our stock.”

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Growing up, Max and his sisters would show livestock at the Story County Fair. The Petzenhausers would stay at a hotel during fair week and other families would camp at the fairgrounds, staying nearby to care for their animals. Going to the fair meant being embedded in a community of other hardworking, responsible folks whose animals eat before they do.

Max said the people make the work that goes into a fair worth it.

“I’d say (fairs) are mainly about the community,” Max said. “The people you meet, it’ll change your life. It makes you stay in the industry. ... The quality of people that I’ve met showing livestock has just been different from anywhere else.”

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Isabelle Foland contributed to this story.

Comments: bailey.cichon@thegazette.com