The Dodge County Fair celebrates 132 continuous years this season.
The fair as it exists today originated in downtown Beaver Dam and fairgoers filled the streets in masses to attend what was known as “The World’s Greatest County Fair,” according to Beaver Dam area historian Roger Noll.
In the mid-1800s, stock fairs were held throughout the area with the intention of marketing animals, crops and produce. Those undercurrents still run through county fairs today. Paired with youth education, the fair still centers around an agricultural focus.
The first gathering resembling a fair took place soon after Dodge County was established. The county was created from the Wisconsin Territory in 1836 and organized in 1844.
In 1853, the Dodge County Agricultural Society was organized. Its main goal was to hold a fair, which it did successfully for two years in Juneau, the county seat. In December of 1866, a group of citizens formed the Beaver Dam Agricultural, Mechanical and Stock Association with the goal of creating and maintaining a fairgrounds and a race course. They purchased 21 acres of land for $1,700. That land, located where Wayland Academy is today, has come to be known as the birthplace of the Dodge County Fair.
The Dodge County Fair has attracted many people over the years. In 1902, it was reported 70,000 people attended the fair. Special trains ran from Chicago to Milwaukee and the streets of Beaver Dam were jammed with people.
Over the years the fair has hosted balloon ascensions and parachute jumps, airplane rides, daredevil acts and harness racing. The original location boasted a grandstand that could hold 4,800 people during horse racing events. Spectators reportedly could see the feet of the race horses at any time during the race. A subway was built under the race track in 1911 to allow patrons to get from one side of the track to the other.
A new grandstand was constructed in 1921 for $50,000. That grandstand was destroyed in a blaze in the spring of 1958. Children playing with matches beneath the empty grandstand started a fire that lasted only 15 minutes, but destroyed the grandstand and several surrounding buildings.
Officers of the fair association met the night of the fire and decided to go ahead with the 1958 fair just a few months later under large tents. The fair was also held on the cleaned-up site in 1959 and 1960.
In October of 1959, the fair board was authorized to sell the fairgrounds to Wayland Academy for $125,000 and to purchase the Knaup-Stegner property along state Highway 33, east of Beaver Dam.
The 1961 Dodge County Fair was held at the new site with a precast cement grandstand, five cattle barns, well, toilets, track, fence, race horse barn and two commercial buildings.
The fairgrounds, which covers 60 acres, grew with the addition of several other buildings. The Farm Progress Arena was built in 1965 when the county hosted the former Farm Progress Days. The livestock building was constructed in 1983, a commercial building was added in 1989 and a pre-cast cement grandstand and stage were constructed in 1990.
Additional buildings and facilities have been added in recent years, and the fair continues to draw crowds upwards of 50,000 when the weather cooperates.
The Dodge County Fair track is visible (center) in an aerial photograph taken of the fairgrounds in 1950. The grandstand, built in 1921, was destroyed by fire; an unfortunate incident caused by children playing with matches beneath the 4,800 seat structure.
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