Wayne County Fair

In the fall of 1849, some citizens of Palmyra, New York decided to hold a horse racing competition and display of agricultural products for their area and surrounding towns in Hathaways grove. Little is written about what took place after that first fair until 1856. On April 13, 1856, seventeen men organized themselves as The Union Agricultural Soc... iety at Palmyra and filed corporation papers; they held a three-day fair in October that year. The original 18 plus acres on Jackson Street, at that time on the southern outskirts of the village of Palmyra, was leased to hold the annual fair. In 1863, The Union Agricultural Society at Palmyra purchased it for $6,000. Todays assessed value of the property is over $1,000,000. As other Fairs of the time and area came and went, the Palmyra Fair flourished, adding new buildings from profits year to year. The Fair Building, known today as Floral Hall, was erected in 1856 and still is used today; many repairs & modifications have been made over the years, but Floral Hall is the only building still remaining since that time. 1875 fair records show a plus balance of $211.93. Decided to extend the main building 32 feet to the north, run it up 2 stories and run the roof east and west. Add 16 feet on the north end of the Dining Hall and move the offices 65 feet further north. This is the current configuration of Floral Hall 2 story building, the north end roof running east to west; small office buildings just off Jackson St. at the entrance to fairgrounds; the Dining Hall used to be on the site of the current 4-H building [to the east of entrance/Floral Hall. In 1913, the ideal weather supported a record attendance of about 16,000 visitors. 1922 was the first year that the fair was open at nighttime. The fair allocated funding to light the grounds. The major attraction in 1922 was the stunt flying of WWI pilot Captain Basil Rowe and a 19-year old female sky jumper named Ruth Blackman. During the 1930s and 1940 s, the Palmyra Fair was known as one of the Best County Fairs in New ...Read More