There has been a fair in Putnam County for more than 100 years. The first fair was organized after the Civil War as a County Agricultural and Mechanical Society and served as a reunion of sorts for those soldiers. There were some livestock at these early fairs, mainly horses and mules, as well as food exhibits.
One of the more interesting facts about this fair is that Frank James, Jesse's brother, started the horse race for several years. The fair was held just west of Unionville for many years on the Willie King farm. However, this fair eventually died out in the early 1900s.
The Modern Fair
The modern version of the Putnam County Fair started up again in 1937 by Conrad White, the vocational-agriculture teacher at the time. The fair was held on October 7th through the 9th. The livestock were kept in the old community stockpens on South 19th Street, what's now a trailer park south of the Dairy Lane. Other exhibits (crops and home economics) were in the building that is now the Putnam County Historical Society and Museum. A band concert was also a part of this fair.
The Unionville Rotary Club was organized in 1937, and they began a major association with the fair for many years. In 1938, city merchants raised $255 for prize money. High -school students served as livestock superintendents. They were: Ed Hudson - Beef Cattle; John Mower - Sheep; Marvin Steele and Bob Maulsby - Crops; Irene Carter and Valee Sparks - Home Economics; James Minear - 4-H; and Margaret Shelton - Extension Clubs. The fair in 1939 had a parade around the town square and tents for the livestock exhibits.
The 1940s
In 1940 and 1941, there was a fair, but there were no livestock shows those years, just crops and home economics exhibits. It is not completely clear why there were no livestock exhibits for those years except that Conrad White, the vo-ag instructor, and C.E. Neff, the county agent, had both left in 1939.
In 1942, the Rotary Club appointed members to the fair committee. These included Paul Melton, Clare Magee, Johnnie Jones, and Glenn Thacker, the Extension Agent here at the time. These persons raised $1,700 from the community, and the first Fair and Calf Sale Barn (Agricultural Building) was built that year. It later burned down.
The 1942 Putnam County Fair was held on September 24th to 26th and also marked the first talent show at the fair. It is listed on the flyer as the fourth annual Putnam County Fair. No one is sure if the fairs before they were held at the park ('37 & '38) weren't counted, or the two years, 1940 and 41, without livestock were not counted as 1942 was actually the sixth year that a fair of some kind was held. However, it snowed (yes, snowed!) and so that year's fair was not very successful.
The Centennial
The fair in 1945 was also the county's centennial, so a large celebration was planned. Professional entertainment from KMBC and WHO in Des Moines were secured for the first time for shows at 2:30 and 8:00 p.m. Antiques that were from Ed Gorman were displayed at the fair that year also. Mrs. Nathan Wells gave a presentation on the history of Putnam County. The daily admission charge that year was 40 cents.
It is after this fair that a fair board was officially organized after it was discovered that premium reimbursement money was available from the state. A public meeting was held at the court house and the first fair board members were elected. The board consisted of Maurice Fowler, Joe Thompson, Jack Nickleson, Russell Hauck, Homer Dickerson and Marple Wyckoff, who served as the secretary. The Unionville Rotary Club continued to be involved with the fair after this as well. The year 1946 marked the first year of the flower show at the fair. They used a tent, and it was blown down two times that year.
The First Food Stand
1947 was the first year there was a food stand and the first time season tickets were sold. Henry Feldman served as the first chariman of the food stand. This was also the first year that merchandise prizes were given away as part of the fair. Until then, tickets had been sold for a Shetland pony that was given away. In the late 1940s, the dates of the fair were changed to right after Labor Day, where it is today. An earlier date would have been preferred but conflicted with other nearby fairs and with the Missouri and Iowa State Fairs. 1949 was the last year that the local merchants contributed for the prizes as that has been self-sustaining since that time.
The first Fair and Calf Sale Barn that was built in 1942 had burnt down. In 1950, a new Calf Sale Barn was built (the one in the picture above) for $12,000 in cooperation with the feeder calf board. It is still used today for the swine show and junior livestock sale during the fair. The upper portion housed the flower show for many years until a building was built for them. The building on the left in this picture was used for cattle and had hay and other storage above. It burned down in a fire in 1979 and was replaced by the present open cattle barn. From the 1940s on, the fair has tried to keep adding to the buildings up at the fairgrounds to make our fair the best it possibly can be.
The 1950s
The Putnam County Fair continued its growth in the 1950s. Our status as a fair with great country music entertainment continued to rise during the decade. The 1950s also had a large increase in 4-H and FFA numbers and as such an increase in participation at the fair. 4-H numbers reached over 300 during this decade, the highest they've ever been in our county.
One of the activities that was very popular and competitive in the 1940s and 1950s was the Saint Joseph Interstate Show. Putnam and Sullivan Counties began a competitive relationship partially due to this show. These counties (and others) fought back and forth at Saint Joe for several years. The picture above is the five calves picked to go to the Interstate Show in 1959. Those showing (from left to right) are: Lonnie Whitacre, Sharon Noel (Tubbs), Bobby Whitacre, David Noel, and Shirley Richardson. This picture was taken in front of the feeder calf barn. Notice the size of these calves in relation to the kids and how that compares to the cattle that are exhibited today!
During the 1950s, the first permanent stage was erected at the fairgrounds. Before that, barrels with planks donated from the lumber yard were used for the entertainers. It was also during this time that the need for a building to serve 4-H, the fair, the feeder calf sale and the community was seen as a real need. A committee was formed to look into this.
The way funds were raised for this building was truly unique. County farmers took calves that were bought at the feeder calf sale and kept them at their farm for a year. The next year they brought them back and the profit made went into the building fund. Also, the county 4-H clubs provided one night of the entertainment at the fair, and the money that would have been spent on it went into this fund. Finally, in 1963 the building (shown above) was completed. It is used for the fair office, home economics and booths in addition to the 4-H projects. This building is dedicated to Lonnie Whitacre, who was killed in an accident and whose dad, Bryce, was one of the main comittee members when the building was begun.
The Fair Keeps Growing
The Putnam County Fair continued to improve during the 1960s and 1970s. The 1960s saw the building of another stage. Country music stars continued to come and play at the fair as our status in that regard grew even more. The flower and vegetable building was completed during these years as well which allowed them a much better space. Livestock shows, cattle in particular, had also changed by the 1970s. Judges were looking for taller, larger-framed cattle, as you can tell by the picture above. (It features Sharla Fleshman to the left and Richard Morrow to the right, showing their steers in the mid-1970s.) Notice the difference from those shown in the 1950's picture. The Putnam County Fair began an open steer show during this period. It became known far and wide as steers and exhibitors came from several states to show in this open show.
One Of The Best
The Putnam County Fair has been one of the top five or 10 county fairs in Missouri for several years, according to the Missouri Aid-to-Fairs folks. The fair has continued to make improvements over the past couple of decades including a new commercial building to house the business and organizational exhibits at the fair. A new Art Exhibit Building, Livestock Show Barn, Sheep and Goat Barn (made necessary by a freak April snowstorm that made the "old" one come down) and the purchase of additional land for parking are just some of the improvements the fair board has made in the 1990s.
In addition, the fair has added several events such as tractor pulls, a "celebrity" livestock show, he-man she-man contest and others. The Putnam County Fair is unique in another way: our fairgrounds are at the City Park. This also helps the city by bringing business to Unionville from the many out-of-town visitors.
Past Performers
The Putnam County Fair has had a long and very sucessful history to date. Country stars such as Moe Bandy, Roy Acuff, Minnie Pearl, T. G. Shepard, George Strait, Ernest Tubb and many others have graced the Putnam County Fair stage.
We would like to thank all of the volunteers who make the Putnam County Fair possible. It is impossible to thank everyone by name that has made our great fair great. We do want to give some very special thanks to the late Don Herrick, Emery Welsh and Don Melton who put together much of this fair history. Thanks to everyone involved, the Putnam County Fair will continue to be the "biggest county fair" in northern Missouri!