Local event has rich past
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Approximately 147 years ago on April 14, 1859 the McMinnville and Warren County Agricultural and Mechanical Society was organized, serving as a prelude to our current fair system.
We do not know who the original incorporators were, but John Hopkins French, W.B. Smartt, William ?Buck? White and Benjamin J. Hill were among them. Andrew Jefferies Marchbanks was elected president and Phillip H. Marbury was chairman of the board of trustees.
The purpose of the society was to promote the advancement of agriculture and industry in Warren County. The best way to demonstrate this was by an annual presentation of a fair. Thus, our first fair was held in October, 1859.
The location was the next order of business with 5 acres purchased for the event. Attorney James Powell Thompson owned an ideal tract just south of town on the banks of Barren Fork River. It was just south of the railroad terminus and was near a free-flowing, everlasting spring.
The event was scheduled for Friday and Saturday, October, 27-28, 1859. The intent was to show the finest produce, livestock, manufacturers and homecrafts that came from the labors of Warren County?s homes, farms and industries. Some of the entered items included: the best stand of lard, the best soap, the best tanned hide, the best barrel of flour, the best flax reduced to linen cloth, best barrel of vinegar, apple brandy, shoes, boots, men?s work pants, suit, coat, best horse shoes, ox shoes, door hinges, and other categories.
The first fair was deemed a huge success due to the participation of the citizens. Horsemanship was a major interest and many contests brought out the versatility and abilities of the people and their animals. It was estimated that between 2,500 and 3,000 people attended the fair that year.
Information from the 1860 fair is very sketchy, and most of what we know comes from the L. Virginia French diary. She notes that preparations were made for the fair by canning for the event and planning outfits for her children. It would appear the fair was one of the premiere fashion events of the fall season.
As 1861 rolled around, war loomed heavily on the horizon. By February, seven states seceded. In April, Tennessee also seceded and the 16th Tennessee regiment enlisted 500 of Warren County?s finest young men for the coming conflict. Consequently, plans for the 1861 fair were canceled and would be a while before thoughts of a fair returned.
The war between the states suspended the Warren County Fair and wreaked havoc to the fairgrounds. Throughout the four-year conflict, the fairgrounds were used by armies of both sides as cantonment area.
Fortunately, 1866 was a good crop year and as 1867 arrived thoughts of a return to normalcy in a way of life led to efforts to renew the fair. While we have little direct evidence to substantiate it, the fair was apparently revived in 1867 in some limited form.
The year of 1868 saw the renewal of a true county fair. New officers were elected and plans were made for the fair to be held Friday and Saturday, Oct. 4-5, 1868.
By 1872, George Madison Smartt was fair president and David F. Wallace was secretary. A special prize of $16 was given to the woman who manufactured the best eight yards of jean material.
In 1876, the fair was held Oct. 12-13 and featured prizes for the best ham, best barrel of vinegar, best 100 pounds of flour, best stand of lard, best boots and shoes and blacksmith awards.
Throughout its history following the Civil War, the fair was plagued with financial problems. The 1878 fair held promise of being the largest and best in history. Admission was set at 15 cents per person, or 25 cents for a three-day pass. This fair featured acrobat acts and amusements.
For unknown reasons, the 1880 fair was the last fair held in Warren County for almost four decades. The chief cause of its decline undoubtedly was financial concerns.
During the 35-year period between 1880 and 1915, Warren County had no fair. Finally in 1915 a group of citizens determined to have a fair started making plans.
While we are not certain, it appears the Women?s Civic League, together with prominent citizens, combined to produce a limited edition of a fair.
A possible motivation for the fair was most likely the new McMinnville City High School. The school, located on College Street, burned to the ground Oct. 23, 1914. A new school building was started on West Colville Street and in September, 1915 it was partially ready.
While limited in scope, the 1915 fair was held at the school in late September. The fair, largely local in production and content, offered no carnival or free acts, and had few out-of-county exhibits, but was so well received that it was continued in the same format through 1921.
A post-war boom, to be known later as ?The Roaring Twenties,? brought a better economy to the area. On June 29, 1922 the Warren County Fair Association was chartered and included prominent merchants and farmers in the county.
As the 1930s came around, a horrible depression settled over the nation. Since we were still largely an agricultural society, our area was slow to feel the effects and the fair flourished.
A review of the 1933 fair details tells us The Silver Band played the entire three days, free acts were headlined by a stunt man, daredevil aviator and fireworks were featured each night.
The fair prospered until the war years of 1942-45. While it continued to operate during the war, rationing, large numbers of people involved in the war effort and the anxiety curtailed attendance and participation.
By 1953 the County Court purchased a site and built facilities for a new non-profit Warren County Agricultural & Livestock Fair. Thus the 1953 fair at the old fairgrounds on Red Road was the last produced by the Warren County Fair Association.
This ended the third phase of county fairs in our community, and with the opening of the new fair on the New Smithville Highway in September of 1954, the fourth era of fairs began.
The Current Era
Since its beginning in 1954, the Warren County A&L Fair has had seven presidents. Under the leadership of each one, the fair continues to grow and is today one of the leading county fairs of its size in the state.
Fair presidents include: Clifford McClain, 1954-1957; Bernard Henegar, 1958; Phillip Grandey, 1959; T.R. (Tom) Woods, 1960-1973; Wilson Womack, 1974-1978; Clifford McClain, 1979-1993 and Steve Grandey, 1994-present.
In 1954, 50 acres were purchased for fair use, and a grandstand, cattle barn, sheep and swine barn and a poultry building were built at the cost of $60,000.
Current president Grandey said, ?Actually, we have outgrown this site. We are land locked, with no more land available. We had over 160,000 visitors last year, and we are bigger than the grounds we have.?
The fair has consistently won awards on the state level, winning second-place AA State Fair honors in 2005. ?We could probably win more awards if we charged admission, therefore bringing in more revenue and making more updates to our buildings and grounds. The executive committee chooses not to do that, though. We are the last free fair, that is one that doesn?t charge a gate fee, parking fee or act fee, in the state,? said Grandey.
Kevin Lawrence is the current State Association Fair President, the first and only state office holder from Warren County. He serves as the first vice president of the Warren County A&L Fair.
Other executive committee members, along with Grandey and Lawrence, are: Kenneth Medlen, second vice president; Regan Kelsey, third vice president; Wayne Davenport, secretary; Carol Grandey, treasurer; and members Jeff Carter, Charles Conner, Jim Davenport, Mike Pelham, Steve Helton, J.B. Moore and George Campbell.
A highlight of the fair for many visitors is Fairfield Village, a complete town of buildings filled with various working museums. The Warren County A&L Fair was the first in the state to start this type of project with the blacksmith shop being built in 1987, followed by the Harrison Cabin, the hardware and mill in 1988. It has currently grown to approximately 25 buildings.