An aerial photo of the Clark County Fair from the early 1960s. The fair has jumped around the county after previously being located in Vancouver and Battle Ground before finally settling south of Ridgefield.
A scene from the “lost kids” booth at a past Clark County Fair in an undated photo shows a range of emotions as youth wait for their parents. With an estimated 270,000 attendees annually, losing a child is a very real threat to full-on family fun.
In case you weren’t aware, it’s time for the fair.
The Clark County Fair returns to the fairgrounds starting Aug. 4, bringing in hundreds of thousands of people during its 10-day run.
The fair’s history goes back further than Washington’s statehood. A brief rundown of the fair’s timeline is available on the fair website, showing how it has moved across the county, changed names and even shut down during wartime.
The first fair in 1868 was hosted at Esther Short Park, a site about 1/10th of the size of the current fairgrounds based on county Geographical Information System data. The Clark County Agricultural and Mechanical Society, sponsors of the first fair, incorporated and bought 28 acres for an official fair site.
Although the 1929 fair hosted in Bagley Park had a strong turnout, it still incurred debt following the event. Fundraising efforts and the assistance of local organizations eventually allowed the fair to recoup and continue for years to come.
The fair made a move to Battle Ground in 1941 after the fair association bought a new permanent site. During that first fair, egg-shaped time capsules were made, created from aluminum by boys trained for work at Boeing.
The county fair combined with Battle Ground’s own outing in 1947, but in 1955 it moved from that host city to a location north of Vancouver, now a Ridgefield postal code area.
In 1972, the fair was reorganized, leading to the county owning the land but the association running the show. In subsequent years, the differing buildings on the fairgrounds were built, most recently with the completion of an exhibition hall in 2005.
Name changes
What’s now the Clark County Fair has gone through a handful of name changes through its history. In 1910 the show was known simply as the Harvest Show, before changing its name to the Columbia River Interstate Fair in 1914. The following year it changed to the Clarke County Fair and Dahlia Show.
World War II also had an effect on the fair naming, as in the years from 1943 to 1945 “Victory Fairs” were held. The war had even more of an effect as in 1942 there was no fair due to the conflict.
In recognition of Washington’s 100-year anniversary of statehood, the fair changed its name to the Centennial Fair. Somewhat ironically. the fair’s name did not change for its own centennial in 1968, though it did lead with the theme “One Hundred Years’ Experience … A Thousand Years of Vision.”
Through name changes, location changes and several reorganizations, the fair now draws in about 270,000 people annually during its 10-day run.
