As I read local papers and watch ads and news reports on local TV, it is quite evident that our southeast corner of Kansas, like so many other areas are knee deep in the annual county fair season. I am reporting this week and next about the county fairs that occur each year in the three counties where this column appears.
Cherokee County, where I grew up had their fair last week, July 15-19. It was advertised as their 97th edition. However, according to the news-Report, in 1866 a small group of settlers got together to celebrate the same year Cherokee County became a county and the size of the gathering grew each year and in 1895 the Old Settlers Reunion was born. In 1919 the reunion was reorganized by the American Legion and has been known as the Soldiers and Sailors Reunion. I grew up recognizing the 5 day event as the Cherokee County American Legion Free Fair. When I first started going to the fair it was all about the big carnival. It took a few years and my involvement in 4-H to realize just what a county fair really was. It was hundreds of exhibits of all kinds as well as many animals. It was so much more than just a carnival.
This year’s Neosho County fair will run July 24-28.
The Neosho County Agricultural Society was organized in Osage Mission (now St. Paul) in May, 1872 and a fair was held in October of 1872 at the south edge of Osage Mission. A fair was held in 1873 and 1874 but the 1874 fair was rained out and there were no more fairs due to financial troubles. The Neosho County Fair Assoc. was formed and chartered in Erie in May 1889. There were representatives from every township so it was meant to be a county fair. Forty acres northwest of town, a half mile west of the current corner of hwy. 59 and State Street, was purchased and building of exhibit and food buildings began soon after. The race track was started once the wheat was cut. Sale of stock at $10 a share was used to gain sufficient support. Due to severe drought and hard times no fair was held in 1901. However, Chanute had held a fair since 1877 with five different associations, including horse racing involved over the next several years. The history of fairs in Chanute could be a column in itself, at times involving four counties. After 4-H started in the county in 1921, 4-H’ers exhibited at the Chanute fair until 1937 when exhibits were judged at the Erie Federated Church, with a percentage of exhibits going to either Hutchinson or Topeka fair. In1943 and 1944 there was no fair due to the war but a one day judging event was held in Erie to judge exhibits. Then in August 28,1945, a big “One Day Fair” was held in Erie with all 11 clubs participating. In Sept. 1948, six acres of land was purchased at the west side of Erie for a county fair grounds, which was to also include a park. A park never developed but this is the current location of the county fair grounds.
Next week the rest of the Neosho Co. Fair story and that of Crawford County Fair which will run July 30-August 2, 2025.
