Fair History

"Alix," Queen of the Trotters.

The first fair held in was at the old town of Frankfort in 1859. Mrs. Ellen T. Lawrence relates that she and John Harris were judges of the "pantry store" which consisted of the butter and cheese made by Mr. Whittler.

The fair proper was enclosed with a rope supported on stakes. Within this enclosure was a reaper, the first and only in the county, and mower. The old Kentucky Harvester was brought in wagons from St. Joe by J. H. Bean and A. P. Whittier. John Bolt brought from the valley of the Nodaway two brood mares, which took the premium and a few head of cattle. E. F. Murray had a span of work horses that took the premium. Mr. Whittier had six thoroughbred Durham (Shorthorn) cattle that he had just brought to . Samuel M. Smith of Milford exhibited the only hogs at that fair.

The fair was the first event that brought all of the people together. When the was came, the minds of the people were diverted to other channels, and a decade elapsed before another attempt was made to organize a county fair. However, in the fall of 1869 a fair quite similar to the first, but more pretentious, was held in the public square. Three years afterward the Southwestern Iowa Fair Association was organized. H. N. Moore was the principal promoter in this enterprise, H. W. Otis was president, Richard Wadsworth, treasure, and E. Kretchmer, secretary. In the fall of 1873 this society held a fair on the open prairie north of the forty acre tract subsequently used for fair grounds.

Another decade passed without any substantial progress being made in establishing a fair on a firm basis. But in July 1879 a few enterprising citizens of Red Oak met to organize the Agricultural Society. They immediately purchased forty acres of ground on which to hold the exhibition (west of the city of the city of Red Oak at the north side of Coolbaugh street.

In 1880, the society was enrolled as a member of the "National Trotting Association, " with the Red Oak branch comprising most of the members. A jockey club was known as the "Red Oak Driving Park Association." The fair had its successes and failures, more of the latter than the former, and it voluntarily went out of business and the land, building and all other property sold, the stockholders realizing about fifty per cent on their original investment.

In 1893, Morris Jones, president of the Standard Trotting Horse Company, moved his breeding stables and trotters to Red Oak from Kenosha, Wisconsin. Mr. Jones proceeded to build up an institution devoted to raising and training horses. A suitable place was selected and purchased adjoining the city of Red Oak on the north and named Pactolus Park in honor of a celebrated trotter owned by Mr. Jones. A regulation mile track was made, a spacious amphitheatre built and suitable barns and three hundred box stalls made ready for occupancy.

Mr. Jones invited attention to his park by offering premiums of $20,000.00 divided into seventeen racing events. Entries to these races were from eighteen different states -- including Texas, California, New York and Canada. The first day, Marcus Daily Lady Wilton made the fastest time, 2:15. There was assembled a greater aggregation of these noble animals than had ever before been known -- this was conceded by horsemen.

Here it was that brave little mare, Queen Alix, the sweetest dispositioned animal in the world was trained before entering upon the campaign that crowned her "Queen of the Turf," her racing time being 2:03 3/4.

Unfortunately the climax of this venture came when on the day that the most notable events were to be held and there was present in Red Oak the largest number of people from surrounding cities and states ever assembled here at one time, a drenching ran came which threw a damper on competitors and deprived the promoter of many thousands of dollars that otherwise would have been gathered in. This fact, associated with other financial misfortunes, caused Mr. Jones to yield his park into other hands.

In 1901 a county fair association was again created and continued through 1905..

"The County Fair"

Related by Dr. Dearborn

At fair season, countless "hacks" would arrive on the unpaved streets of the Square, these being long vehicles, horse drawn, and they would carry many passengers. The fare was about ten cents each way and much shouting was done to entice customers to the various hacks.

There were running races and trotting races and in the early days none but the high wheeled sulkies were used. The brightly polished spokes flashed in the sun as they whizzed around the track. Ere long the sulkies appeared with the bicycle wheels of the present time and soon the old wooden wheel sulkies were completely discarded..