Allentown Fairgrounds is located at 302 North 17th Street in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It hosts the Great Allentown Fair annually in late August and early September.
The fairgrounds was established in 1889 and comprises 46 acres and is owned and operated by the Lehigh County Agricultural Society. [1]
In 1852, the Lehigh County Agricultural Society launched the first of what would become a long-running Lehigh Valley tradition, the annual Great Allentown Fair. The first fair, which was held from October 6 to 8 that year on land east of Allentown's Fourth Street, between Union and Walnut streets, [2] [3] was followed up the next year on a plot of land located between Fifth and Sixth streets and north of Liberty Street, which had recently been purchased by the society and transformed with the construction of a ticket office and two-story exhibition hall, [4] where fair attendees roamed on September 28, 29 and 30, 1853. [4]
An increasingly successful event, the annual fair continued to attract an audience but, in 1862, was cancelled due to the Civil War and the conversion of the fairgrounds into a training camp for the 176th Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry. The Great Allentown Fair then resumed operations in 1863, continuing on until 1917 when the United States government converted the 46-acre grounds into Camp Crane, a training facility for the U.S. Army Ambulance Service, paying the agricultural society $37,000 per year for its lease. Named in honor of Brigadier-General Charles H. Crane, who had served as surgeon general of the U.S. Army from 1882 to 1883, the camp was home to anywhere between 4,000 and 5,000 men at various points in time during World War I. [5]
Shortly after World War II, the Central States Racing Association (CSRA) held a "big car" (now sprint car) race at the fairgrounds. [6] The track reached capacity by 3:00pm with 124,172 paid admissions. [6] Thousands of additional spectators arrived later and had to watch outside the track walls. [6] The race was won by Jimmy Wilburn. [6]
The Allentown Fairgrounds currently operates multiple attractions, including:
During the rest of the year (other than the week before and the week of the fair), the area beneath the grandstand, and an adjoining building, together host an indoor farmers' market, usually open Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, but also open additional weekdays before and/or after major holidays. [7] The Agriplex buildings also host a wide variety of events throughout the year, which are listed separately on the fair's Web site. [8]
Lehigh County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 374,557. Its county seat is Allentown, the state's third-largest city after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Allentown is the county seat of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the third-most populous city in Pennsylvania with a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 census and the most populous city in the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the nation as of 2020.
The Minnesota State Fair is the state fair of the U.S. state of Minnesota. Also known by its slogan, "The Great Minnesota Get-Together", it is the largest state fair in the United States by average daily attendance and the second-largest state fair in the United States by total attendance, trailing only the State Fair of Texas, which generally runs twice as long as the Minnesota State Fair. The state fairgrounds, adjacent the Saint Paul campus of the University of Minnesota, are in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, midway between the state's capital city of Saint Paul and the adjacent city of Roseville, near the Como Park and Saint Anthony Park neighborhoods of Saint Paul. Residents of the state and region come to the fair to be entertained, exhibit their best livestock, show off their abilities in a variety of fields including art and cooking, learn about new products and services, and eat many different types of food—often on a stick. The Minnesota State Fair was named the best state fair in the United States in 2015 by readers of USA Today.
The Lehigh Valley is a geographic and metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh and Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bounded to its north by Blue Mountain, to its south by South Mountain, to its west by Lebanon Valley, and to its east by the Delaware River and Warren County, New Jersey. The Lehigh Valley is about 40 miles (64 km) long and 20 miles (32 km) wide. The Lehigh Valley's largest city is Allentown, the third-largest city in Pennsylvania and the county seat of Lehigh County, with a population of 125,845 residents as of the 2020 census.
Henry Clay Trexler was an American industrialist, businessman, and major philanthropist who contributed to the economic development of Allentown, Pennsylvania and the surrounding Lehigh Valley in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He bequeathed the majority of his estate to create the Harry C. Trexler Trust, which has since dispensed more than $150 million in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania.
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Goodman Stadium is Lehigh University's 16,000-seat stadium located on its Goodman Campus in Lower Saucon Township, Pennsylvania. It opened in 1988, replacing Taylor Stadium, which stood in the main academic campus from 1914 until 1987. The former Taylor Stadium site now holds the Rauch Business Center, the Zoellner Arts Center, and a parking garage.
The Illinois State Fair is an annual festival, centering on the theme of agriculture, hosted by the U.S. state of Illinois in the state capital, Springfield. The state fair has been celebrated almost every year since 1853. Currently, the fair is held annually at the Illinois State Fairgrounds over an 11-day period in mid-August of each year.
Markham Fair is one of Canada's oldest country fairs, an annual event established in 1844. It is located in Markham, Ontario and hosted by the Markham and East York Agricultural Society. With over 700 volunteers working on more than 70 committees, Markham Fair is the largest community-based volunteer organization in Canada. The fair and fairgrounds are owned by the agricultural society.
The Oregon State Fair is the official state fair of the U.S. state of Oregon. It takes place every August–September at the 185-acre (0.75 km2) Oregon State Fairgrounds located in north Salem, the state capital, as it has almost every year since 1862. In 2006, responsibility for running the fair was delegated to the Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department, and the division is now known as the Oregon State Fair & Exposition Center (OSFEC), which holds events on the fairgrounds year-round.
The Big Fresno Fair, founded in 1884, is an annual fair held at the Fresno County Fairgrounds. The Big Fresno Fair is managed by the 21st District Agricultural Association, an entity of the California Department of Food and Agriculture Division of Fairs & Expositions. It is the largest annual event in the San Joaquin Valley, attracting around 600,000 people each October during its twelve-day run featuring exhibits, a livestock show, live horse racing, musical entertainment, educational programs and more. The Fair provides a link between urban and rural California, serving as a tool to educate visitors on the region's rich agricultural industry. The mission of The Big Fresno Fair is to "Educate, Celebrate and Have Fun".
Miller Symphony Hall is a 1,100-seat performing arts facility in Allentown, Pennsylvania that hosts the Allentown Symphony Orchestra. The hall was previously known as Central Market (1896), Lyric Theater (1899), and Allentown Symphony Hall (1959). In 2012, it was renamed for the Miller family, longtime owners of the hall and of The Morning Call newspaper.
The Great Allentown Fair is an annual fair and agricultural show that is held at the Allentown Fairgrounds in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It is operated by the Lehigh County Agricultural Society. It is one of the oldest fairs in the United States, and one of the largest in the state of Pennsylvania.
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The culture of Allentown, Pennsylvania dates back to the early 18th century settlement of the city and the surrounding Lehigh Valley, which was then part of the Province of Pennsylvania, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, by German immigrants almost exclusively affiliated the Lutheran, Moravian, and Reformed faiths, three of the most prominent Protestant denominations.
Camp Crane was a World War I United States Army Ambulance Service (USAAS) training camp, located in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Its mission was to train ambulance drivers to evacuate casualties on the Western Front in France. It was named for Brigadier General Charles Henry Crane, surgeon general of the Army in 1882-83.
Allentown station is a defunct train station in Allentown, Pennsylvania. It was constructed by the Central Railroad of New Jersey (CNJ) and Reading Railroad in 1888 and 1889. For most of the late 19th and early 20th century, it provided passenger train service between Allentown and various U.S. Coast locations.
The Lehigh Line is a railroad line in Central New Jersey, Northeastern Pennsylvania, and the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. It is owned and operated by the Norfolk Southern Railway. The line runs west from the vicinity of the Port of New York and New Jersey in Manville, New Jersey via Conrail's Lehigh Line to the southern end of Wyoming Valley's Coal Region in Lehigh Township, Pennsylvania.
