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The State Fair entrance at Strawberry Hill, circa 1957 (courtesy of State Fair of Virginia)
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The earliest known image of the State Fair of Virginia shows the fairgrounds at what is now Monroe Park in 1854. (Courtesy of State Fair of Virginia)
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The baby "Zonkey" from Gene Holter’s "Wild Animal Show" of the 1970s. (Courtesy of State Fair of Virginia)
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A scene from the 1950s: Showing livestock has always been a part of the fair. (Courtesy of State Fair of Virginia)
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The fairgrounds as seen in 1978. In 1946, the State Fair gained a new name, the Atlantic Rural Exposition, along with a new site on the estate known as Strawberry Hill. (Courtesy of State Fair of Virginia)
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Agricultural exhibits have always been a part of the fair. (Courtesy of State Fair of Virginia)
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Historic ribbons from the early 1900s (courtesy of State Fair of Virginia)
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Rosaire’s Royal Racers as seen in the 1980s. The racing pigs are still part of the fair today.(Courtesy of State Fair of Virginia)
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These children are likely enjoying the “Kiddie Land” part of the Midway in 1951.(Courtesy of State Fair of Virginia)
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Opening day kick-off ceremonies in 1965 with Miss Richmond and Col. Charles H. Reed. (Courtesy of State Fair of Virginia)
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The State Fair moved to Caroline County in 2009. This photo, taken in 2013, shows a passenger tunnel fitting the fair’s theme for that year. (Courtesy of State Fair of Virginia)
Editor's note: This web extra accompanies a news story in our September issue looking at changes visitors can expect at this year's State Fair.
Virginia's first state fair was held 163 years ago in what is now Richmond's Monroe Park. Since then, the fair has weathered storms of many kinds and reemerged to entertain and educate generations of visitors. Here are some of the important dates:
1854: Founding of the Virginia State Agricultural Society, which holds the first state fair at what is now Monroe Park in Richmond.
1859: The fair moves to West Broad Street near what is now the Science Museum of Virginia.
1861-1866: The Civil War forces the suspension of the fair.
1869: After a false start or two, the fair resumes, often to large and appreciative crowds.
1896: No State Fair is held for the next decade, after the Virginia State Agricultural Society falls into heavy debt.
1906: The fair is revived with the establishment of Virginia State Fair Association, and the fair moves to North Boulevard at what now is the site of The Diamond.
1946: The Virginia State Fair Association reforms as the Atlantic Rural Exposition Inc. The fair moves to Strawberry Hill off Laburnum Avenue in Henrico County. In time, the fair leases part of the site to what is now the Richmond International Raceway.
1999: Atlantic Rural Exposition sells the Strawberry Hill complex to the raceway for $47 million, and plots a move to Varina in eastern Henrico.
2002: The Atlantic Rural Exposition gives up on its efforts to move to Varina, and becomes a tenant on the Strawberry Hill property it once owned.
2003: The Atlantic Rural Exposition buys Meadow Farm in Caroline County, birthplace of Triple Crown winner Secretariat, for $5.3 million, and is reorganized as the State Fair of Virginia, Inc.
2008: The State Fair breaks ground on an $81 million complex called Meadow Event Park, about 25 miles north of Richmond.
2009: The first State Fair is held at the Caroline site; 243,753 visitors come through the gates.
2011: Attendance at the State Fair reaches a 13-year high of 270,000 visitors. But it is not enough to prevent the State Fair of Virginia Inc. from later filing for bankruptcy, citing stock losses and debts of about $75 million.
2012: The State Fair of Virginia and the Meadow Event Park are purchased at a foreclosure sale by Mark Lovell, a Tennessee fair owner who enters a winning bid of $5.67 million.
2012: The Virginia Farm Bureau buys a 50 percent interest in the State Fair, and operates the agricultural portion of the event while Lovell runs the carnival. The first fair under new ownership draws about 180,000 visitors.
2013: The Farm Bureau becomes the sole owner of the State Fair, after purchasing Lovell’s part for an undisclosed sum. Attendance reaches 229,000.
2014: A lawsuit is filed in November alleging a conspiracy between the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation and the Williams Mullins law firm to prevent Mini-USA, a company run by local concert promoter Gratton Stephens, from acquiring the State Fair and the Meadow Event Park. The suit was settled out of court in 2016; terms were not disclosed.
2015: Severe weather conditions and a state of emergency declared by the governor in the wake of Hurricane Joaquin leads the fair to close during its final three days. Attendance figures are not released. The birthplace of Secretariat earns a place on the Virginia Landmarks Register, and subsequently is listed of the National Register of Historic Places.
Sources: “The State Fair of Virginia Since 1854” by Lou Ann Meadows Ladin and Wayne Dementi; “From the Ground Up: Growth of a Modern Farm Bureau” by Greg Hicks; The Richmond Times-Dispatch.
