Throwback Thursday: Remembering Warren County fairs of years past

Summertime in southern Kentucky means it’s time for the fair. Going for a spin on the rides, tasting cotton candy and funnel cake, watching beauty pageants and the demolition derby are just a few memory-making moments SoKy Fair visitors may have the chance to create. This week we’re looking back at fairs of years past.

The concept of the “fair” dates back to the ancient world, where communities would gather for a holy day. In the United States, the idea of county and state fairs first started in the early 1800s. They were mostly agricultural-based farming and livestock shows, the first being noted as Elkanah Watson’s “Berkshire Cattle Show” in 1810. The Blue Ribbon Group credits Syracuse, New York for organizing the first known state fair in 1841.

As county and state fairs grew across the developing United States, they became the place where everyone gathered for all kinds of activities – food creation contests, beauty pageants, carnival-style games and rides, and beyond. In the late 1800s and early twentieth century, the Warren County Fair used to be held along Lehman Avenue toward Magnolia Avenue in Bowling Green, as that was considered the “outskirts” of the city, and was built up after the Civil War.

We found photos of the grandstand that seated 3,500 people, a half-mile track, and an amphitheater that seated 7,500 people, trolley cars, and entertainment activities of the Warren County Fairs in the WKU Special Collections Library. There’s something playful, whimsical, and nostalgic about the fair, it’s a time for merriment and gathering of a neighborhood or place, celebrating all the things that make it great.

Civic organizations hosted these fairs and continue today. For decades, the Kiwanis Club and Noon Lions Club produced the Warren County Fair. According to today’s fair organizers, the Bowling Green/Warren County Jaycees did the concessions for the county fair in 1946, and took over the whole fair production in 1953 – giving it a new name – the Southern Kentucky Fair that we know today.

The SoKy Fair continues through Saturday, with rides, food, games, racing, the Demolition Derby, truck pull, the poultry and alpaca show, and more. Find the full schedule of events at sokyfair.org.