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    Erie County Fair
    Erie County Fair
    Erie County Fair
    Ebook145 pages42 minutes

    Erie County Fair

    By Martin Biniasz and Erie County Agricultural Society

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    About this ebook

    During the mid-20th century, the Erie County Fair in Hamburg, New York, began a journey that transformed a traditional, agriculturally based fair into the largest independent county fair and exposition in the United States. As the number of fair days and exhibits expanded, so did the number of fairgoers, increasing gate attendance figures to over one million visitors annually. While fair traditions have provided continuity over the decades, the fair continues to evolve and renew itself through improvements to the fairgrounds, the addition of unique attractions, and an ongoing commitment to agriculture. Erie County Fair showcases the many dramatic changes that have taken place during the modern era of this fair. From the thrills of the midway and entertainment to nationally recognized agricultural, creative arts, and livestock competitions, the fair's history comes alive through color photographs from the archives of the Erie County Agricultural Society.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateAug 1, 2016
    ISBN9781439657027
    Erie County Fair
    Author

    Martin Biniasz

    Martin Biniasz is manager of special events and community outreach for the Erie County Agricultural Society, a private nonprofit membership organization that produces the fair. Biniasz has authored a previous book on the subject for Arcadia and is a sought-after speaker on the history of Buffalo, New York, and the Erie County Fair.

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      Book preview

      Erie County Fair - Martin Biniasz

      Society.

      INTRODUCTION

      In 2014, the Erie County Agricultural Society celebrated the 175th Erie County Fair by welcoming a record-breaking 1,220,101 visitors to its fairgrounds in Hamburg, New York. When the tradition of agricultural fairs in the region began in 1820, the total population of the village of Buffalo was only 2,100 people. With the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, the Niagara Frontier began a period of meteoric growth that lasted well into the 20th century.

      Early settlers to Western New York State discovered an area accommodating for agricultural success. Despite long winters, the region provided sunny, dry summers with sufficient rain for vegetation. Fertile lands benefited from the cooling effects of Lakes Erie and Ontario. Microclimates along the lakeshores provided frost and heat protection for delicate crops like fruit trees and grapes. The Great Lakes also provided an important transportation route to the center of a quickly expanding United States.

      By the early 1800s, pioneers from eastern New York and New England began to arrive. Just as settlements in the region began to take hold, the village of Buffalo became embroiled in the War of 1812 and was burned to the ground by the British in December 1813.

      In 1819, as the region was just recovering from war, optimistic pioneers looked to form an agricultural union with the goal of educating farmers and sharing information. On August 5, 1819, when the present Erie County was still part of Niagara County, a Buffalonian by the name of Joseph W. Moulton sent a letter to farmers proposing the founding of a county agricultural society. The response was well received, and at a meeting on September 14, 1819, at the courthouse on Buffalo’s Lafayette Square, a society was founded. Dr. Cyrenius Chapin was elected president, with a directive to organize and sponsor a fair. The first fair was held in October 1820 at a site near Terrace and Main Streets in an area of modern downtown Buffalo known as Canalside.

      According to a history of the Erie County Agricultural Society edited by H. Perry Smith in 1884, as the day for the first exhibition approached, Dr. Chapin realized that if there was to be a fair, he would have to provide it. Fortunately, he owned five farms in the vicinity of Buffalo that were stocked with fine flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. He notified his tenant farmers to begin driving in selected specimens of stock the day before the fair. On the morning before this big event, the doctor became worried. To make sure everything was proceeding according to plan, he sent out his protégé, 17-year-old Orlando Allen, to check on preparation. On horseback, in company with another youth, Allen first went to Dr. Chapin’s farm in Hamburg. He found his employer had grounds for his fears. The farmer had done nothing at all about starting the livestock toward Buffalo. So, Allen rode herd on 20 head of cattle and sheep, driving them though forest, wilderness, and bogs to Buffalo. It was breakfast time on the morning of the fair when Allen finally ended his tour of duty driving cattle to Buffalo. He spent all that day at the fair and that night, dressed in a brand-new suit of clothes, he had a fine time dancing at the ball that ended the exhibition. Writing about the first fair, Allen commented, The day was fine, the entries quite numerous and everything passed off to the satisfaction of all concerned.

      In 1821, the greater part of Niagara County became Erie County, and the society’s name was changed to the Erie County Agricultural Society. The second fair, held on October, 30, 1821, was affectionately referred to in the Republic Press newspaper as a Farmers’ Holiday. The fair’s agricultural ball was held at the Rathbone Hotel following a day of plowing competitions and the awarding of premiums.

      A combination of a poor economy, transportation logistics, and perhaps the community’s attention focused on the building of the Erie Canal, meant enthusiasm for an annual agricultural exhibition faded, so after only two years, the county fair idea was dropped. Two decades later, on August 14, 1841, a group of county citizens formed another Erie County Agricultural Society. Lewis F. Allen of Buffalo was the first president of the new organization, which

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