By Noah Crenshaw | Daily Journal
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For well over a century-and-a-half, the Johnson County 4-H and Agricultural Fair has been a consistent staple in the county.
Through ups and downs, the fair has been a tradition for generations of county residents.
As each year passed, the fair underwent changes, some obvious and some not so obvious. For example, the fair residents see today is drastically different from the first fair the county had in November 1838 — 15 years after the county was founded.
“That’s pretty impressive that they got that organized so quickly,” said David Pfeiffer, director of the Johnson County Museum of History.
Fair dates back to county’s roots
The 1838 fair took place on land owned by Garrett Bergen, a local resident, according to documents provided by the Johnson County Museum of History. Admission to this fair was free, and the land it was on would later become what is now Martin Place in Franklin.
The fair goes so far back that it highlight’s Johnson County’s roots and agricultural base, Pfeiffer said.
“This was a way to show off how good the agricultural and farm animals and stuff like that the county produces (are). That’s always been a big part of the county’s annual traditions,” he said.
The county fair predates the Indiana State Fair, Pfeiffer said. The first state fair was in 1852, and for its first four decades, it rotated around the state before landing at its permanent — and current — location in 1892.
“That’s 14 years before the first state fair. I think that’s pretty impressive,” he said.
The Johnson County Agricultural Society was created in 1851, charged with organizing the annual fair, according to museum documents.
By 1860, the fair had outgrown the land it was on and needed to be moved. However, due to the onset of the Civil War, the agricultural society disbanded and the fair took a hiatus until 1867, museum documents show.
The fair, as county residents know it today, began to take shape in December 1867, when its 29-acre plot of land was bought privately by the Johnson County Joint Stock Agricultural Association. The county would later buy the land for $3,625 in 1873, according to museum documents.
From 1873 to 1933, the Johnson County Agricultural, Horticultural and Park Association ran the fair, and the Johnson County 4-H and Agricultural Fair Association took over the fair in 1933, Pfeiffer said. The association still runs the fair today.
Modern fair begins to take shape
While the fair has been around in some shape or form for 183 years, the most recent iteration of it is 132 years old.
The fair did not used to take place in July, as the modern fair does. The first fair was named the Premium List of Johnson County Agricultural, Horticultural and Park Association, and took place from Sept. 17-21, 1889, according to a July 1985 Daily Journal article.
At the time, the fair was one of just 53 fairs in Indiana that year, according to the article. Today, all 92 counties have fairs, along with the Indiana State Fair.
A program for the first fair said the fairgrounds had a track for trotting and pacing horse races, according to the article. First-place winners in the Johnson County Trot and Pace received $12, second place winners received $7.50 and third place received $5.50. Adjusted for last year’s inflation, the prizes would be $350.53, $219.08 and $160.66, for first, second and third place respectively.
Tickets for the 1889 fair were $1.50 for a family to attend all of the events, according to Daily Journal archives. Daily tickets for adults were $0.25, and daily tickets for kids were $0.10. Parking for horse and buggies was $0.50.
Flash forward to today: Admission to the county fair is free, and parking on the fairgrounds is $5.
New events a constant at the fair
Community staples with long histories naturally see new events and innovations form over time, and the county fair is no exception.
“ENGAGEMENT EXTRAORDINARY!!!” read an ad for the fair in an August 1912 edition of the Evening Star, the county’s newspaper at the time. The ad was for a “thrilling and death-defying race between an Aeroplane and an Automobile” that would take place during the fair. The pilot, Captain G. L. Baumbaugh, presented the idea of the show to the fair board, and the show was going to be the first-of-its-kind in Indiana.
Sixteen years later, an ad for the fair read “Don’t Miss the Greatest of All Johnson County Fairs: SPEED — ACTION — THRILLS.” The highlights of the 1928 fair were horse racing, livestock shows, concessions, horseshoe pitching contests, balloon ascensions and a motor show, according to an ad in an August 1928 edition of The Franklin Evening Star.
Then, in 1958, a long-standing fair tradition started: the fair queen contest. “Whiteland Girl is Chosen Fair Queen” read a headline in an August 1958 edition of The Franklin Evening Star. It was above an article about 19-year-old Patsy Newhouse who beat out 10 other candidates to be crowned fair queen.
While new events were added, other events had to adapt to new circumstances. In 1989, the fair’s fresh flower exhibits had to be moved out of Scott Hall into Magill Hall due to an increase in the number of fair exhibits, according to a 1989 Daily Journal article.
Updates occur, things stay the same
As the county grew, so did the fair.
Over time, buildings and stands were built, and others were updated. In 1974, a new, 2,500-seat grandstand opened for the first time, according to a 1974 Daily Journal article.
The ticket booth at the Fairgrounds Street entrance was was updated in 2005. The booth, built in 1920, was updated by the 2005 4-H Honor Group over a three-day period, according to a 2005 Daily Journal article.
The fairgrounds have expanded, as have commercial exhibits and 4-H opportunities, said Mike Pruitt, fair board member, county coroner and deputy chief of the Bargersville Fire Department.
Some things have stayed the same. The fair’s exhibits and food have mostly stayed the same over the years. The livestock shows have always been on the same day throughout his time at the fair.
Poor Jack Amusements, the company that provides the fair with rides, has been at the Johnson County fair for 50 years. It was actually the company’s first fair, Pruitt said.
The whole concept of the fair has stayed the same, said Kim Roberts, fair board secretary. Roberts was in 4-H for a number of years, and a lot of the people who were in it when she was are still involved.
“It’s all about learning by doing and … making relationships that last for life,” Roberts said. “It really is a community event.”
The fair’s biggest change in recent memory was last year’s fair, which went virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic, Pruitt said. Portions of the fair, including rides, food, grandstand events and animal shows, were not open to the public. Livestock shows were virtual for 4-Hers, and the Fair Queen pageant had a restricted audience.
There were concerns this year about the number of participants, but things are starting to look up, he said.
In 2000, the fair had a record crowd with at least 150,000 people attending, according to a 2000 Daily Journal article.
This year, the fair is expecting an above-average turnout. Other fairs in the state reported their biggest turnouts in years, Roberts said.
Under normal circumstances — and with good weather — the fair board estimates about 100,000 people will pass through the fair next week. But with the fair not being open to the public last year, all bets are off, she said.
Community changes, fair adapts
As the county continues to grow, some wonder how the fair will change.
In 2000, Johnson County’s population was 115,181, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Today, the county’s population is more than 160,000, according to a Hoosiers by the Numbers estimate. By 2030, the population is projected to surpass 177,000.
The community is changing, and the diversity of the fair creates new opportunities. But those new opportunities do not mean the fair will ever forget its history, Pruitt said.
“We have to be able to maintain (its) agriculture-based history,” he said.
When Roberts was in 4-H, she showed hogs. The kids in 4-H at the time were farm kids who had animals at home. Today, though, a lot of the kids live in town, she said.
“They have friends that keep animals at their home and give them the opportunity to work with them and feed them and that whole process. A lot of them learn to love it, and then they want to get involved and share that with their families,” Roberts said.
As long as 4-H participation continues, the fair board will be able to maintain that image of agriculture. It is a good thing that some things haven’t changed, Pruitt said.
“It’s like a giant reunion,” he said. “People who have moved away have come back here (for the fair).”
There’s one thing that will always remain the same: the fair is for the people. After all, it was in 1889, during the first Johnson County fair under the Johnson County Agricultural, Horticultural and Park Association, when the idea was written into existence, according to the 1985 Daily Journal article.
“This is to be a people’s fair and its success will depend largely upon the good will of the people,” the article read.
