Although the color of the leaves and the temperatures aren’t reflecting it, fall is upon us, and that means college football, the smell of pumpkin spice everything and the Arkansas State Fair.
In the next several days, thousands of Arkansans will make the annual pilgrimage down Roosevelt Road in Little Rock for jumbo corn dogs, concerts, free stuff in the Hall of Industry and lots of people-watching.
Officially named the Arkansas State Fair and Livestock Show, the current incarnation of the state fair started in 1938. But long before then, there were several attempts to establish a centralized fair for Arkansas.
In November 1867, the Arkansas State Agricultural and Mechanical Association was created. One of its top goals was to establish a state fair. Arkansas’ first state fair was held in Little Rock from Nov. 17–20, 1868. The fair was located at what is now the corner of Center and 17th streets.
In May 1881, the State Fair Association of Arkansas was incorporated. The organization used 110 acres on East 9th Street in Little Rock for the state fair until the start of World War I in 1914.
State fair archives show that a “state fair” was held at Oaklawn Park (now the site of Oaklawn Racing Casino Resort) in Hot Springs in 1906. Another was held at Fair Park (now the location of the Little Rock Zoo and War Memorial Stadium) in Little Rock in 1922.
In the late 1930s, a group of leaders in the state’s agriculture industry formed the Arkansas Livestock Show Association. The group decided to sponsor a public livestock exposition to help educate farmers and to promote Arkansas’ livestock industry. The Arkansas Livestock Show was held Nov. 9–13, 1938, in North Little Rock. The show was not a success — only 17,000 people attended and the show lost $23,000.
The following year, officials decided to move the event back a month for better weather. And along with the time change, promoters brought in world-famous celebrity cowboy Roy Rogers to make an appearance. They also added carnival rides and food, making the livestock show now a full-fledged statewide fair.
The annual event would stay in North Little Rock for three more years until a fire destroyed its facilities the day after the fair’s end in 1942. As a result, the state fair was moved to Pine Bluff in 1943. But it would be the only time the state fair was held in that city. Officials canceled the event in 1944 and 1945 due to World War II.
In 1944, Little Rock city leaders made a proposal to the Arkansas Livestock Show Association to permanently move the fair to the state’s capital on the land where War Memorial Stadium stands today. But the association didn’t like the location and rejected the city’s offer. In 1945, the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce offered the Arkansas Livestock Show Association several acres on Roosevelt Road, and this time, the association said yes. In the years to come, the association expanded the fairgrounds, and now the Arkansas State Fairgrounds Complex consists of 135 acres. The property was added to the National Register of Historic Places in January 2022.
Construction of an arena on the fairgrounds began in 1948, and was completed in 1951. The structure, Barton Coliseum, was named for Col. Thomas H. Barton, the founder and president of Lion Oil Co. in El Dorado. Barton contributed money to help build the arena and served as the livestock association’s president for many years.
The 83rd annual Arkansas State Fair started on Friday, Oct. 13, and runs through Sunday, Oct. 22. As always, there’s lots of rides, animals, concerts, rodeos and, of course, the fair food.
For information on dates and times, admission costs and a schedule of events, visit www.arkansasstatefair.com. And should you go to this year’s fair, you’ll go knowing how this annual Arkansas fall tradition began.
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