As we move into late summer and early autumn, it is fast coming time for county fairs all over Illinois.

Time was, just about every county in the state had its own county fair. The fairs gave folks a chance to gather after the harvest of small grains finished and before the corn harvest started.

Fairs offered educational opportunities for farmers; rewarded the best in livestock, home economics and crop raising; as well as offering entertainment including harness racing and other popular events. Nowadays, the rapid decline in the number of farmers and farms has resulted in the elimination of county fairs all over the Midwest.

But in our area of northern Illinois, there are still enough rural folks to make holding county fairs feasible. And, of course, the Illinois State Fair remains hugely popular.

This year’s Kendall County Fair kicks off on Aug. 2 at the fairgrounds south of Yorkville. Meanwhile, the Kane County Fair is in the process of wrapping up, and the DuPage County Fair is on right now. This year’s Illinois State Fair down in Springfield will be held Aug. 9-19. Finally, the granddaddy of county fairs, the Sandwich Fair, will cap this year’s fair season from Sept. 5-9.

There is disagreement where the first Kendall County Fair was held. In the Rev. E.W. Hicks’ 1877 county history, he says it was held in 1853 in Newark. The 1914 history of the county says it was held in 1854 on the courthouse grounds in Oswego – the county seat having been moved there in 1845. In 1855, the fair was held in Oswego, according to the Kendall County Courier.

The annual fairs were held in late September or early October, which put them after the harvest of small grains was finished, but during the corn harvest. In the Sept. 26, 1855, edition of the Courier, published in Oswego, editor and publisher H.S. Humphrey noted that the entire county was looking forward to the third annual Kendall County Fair.

“The citizens of Oswego are preparing and fencing the Public Square around the Court House, which will be in good order and convenient and all stock brought the first day will be kept free of charge,” Humphrey reported. “Ladies, we want your department well-filled, as we expect company of abroad and they will expect something nice at the Kendall County Fair. Preparations will be made by our Hotel keepers to feed all who come to the Fair at a very reasonable price—seven shillings per day, lodging included or 30-cents for a single meal.”

The courthouse square in Oswego is now occupied by Byline Bank, the Oswego Post Office, and Village Green Park.

Just as today, that era’s Kendall County Fair shared the entertainment bill with the Illinois State Fair, which was a very big deal indeed. At that time, the state fair was held in mid-October in Chicago.

According to a note in the Courier from the county fair association: “We have endeavored, ever since this Society was instituted, to impress upon the farmers and mechanics of Kendall, the importance of securing to it a healthy, and progressive action, which will ultimately result, not only to their pecuniary interest, but give them a name abroad, as a [sic] enterprising and progressive community.”

The article promised “diplomas with glass and frames” would be awarded to fair competition winners.

According to the wrap-up report filed on Oct. 10, 1855, by fair secretary Daniel Haigh, the event proved a rousing success. In the ladies’ department, Matilda Strossman took home first place in the lamp mat competition, Rosella Ladd won a first for her patchwork quilt, and Hildah Foot won a first for her lace cap and pincushion. Farm equipment displayed included reaping and mowing machines, a “Dutch Plough,” double and single harnesses for teams of horses, and a hay rake and loader.

According to Oliver C. Johnson in “Atlas and History of Kendall County, Illinois” (1941), the 1856 fair was held in Plano. But beginning in 1857, Johnson wrote, the fair was held in Bristol (now the north side of Yorkville), where it remained until the last fair under the old management was held in 1906.

In the early spring of 1858, a total of $140 was collected from 22 county residents, with the money to be used “…for the purpose of suitably fitting grounds on which to hold the annual fair of the Kendall County Agricultural Society in the village of Bristol for a term of five years,” according to the document, which is now in the collection of the Kendall County Historical Society. The fairgrounds were located west of what is now Route 47 on Game Farm Road, later the site of the Glen Palmer State Game Farm.

For the next 50 years, the fair proved a popular way to celebrate autumn. Over the years, more land was added to the original parcel, and a number of exhibition and out buildings were completed, including the Floral Hall (for flowering exhibits), livestock barns, show barns, sheds, and a facility called the ladies’ “retiring house” were finished.

In addition, the fairgrounds boasted a 1.5-mile horse racing track for both harness and regular racing that were completed with a large grandstand. An ad in an 1886 edition of the Kendall County Record lured fairgoers by promising “Jeakle’s Great Hippodrome” offering daily chariot races, which had been secured “at a large expense.”

Despite its popularity (the interurban trolley company offered extra trolleys from Aurora to Yorkville during fair season), the fair eventually declined, probably due to a change in the managing organization and its aims. The last Kendall County Fair was hosted in the late summer of 1906, a victim of bad management.

But then a quarter of a century ago, the idea of a Kendall County Fair was revived. The new Kendall County Fair Association acquired a fairground site along Ill. 47 south of Yorkville, and the event has been growing ever since. And this year, even though there will be no “Jeakle’s Great Hippodrome,” you’re invited to enjoy a bit of county agricultural nostalgia Aug. 2-5.

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