Merced County Fairgrounds
37°17′29″N 120°29′06.1″W / 37.29139°N 120.485028°W
Merced County Fair | |
---|---|
County fair | |
Frequency | Annually, for 5 days in June |
Location(s) | Merced, California |
Years active | 1891–1916, 1919–1935, 1937–1942, 1946–2019, 2022– (no fair during WWI from 1917–18, 1936, WWII from 1943-45, nor 2020-21 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) |
Founded | 1891 |
Attendance | 0 in 2020-21 [1] |
Website | mercedcountyfair.com |
The Merced County Fairgrounds are home to the annual Merced County Fair, the county fair of Merced County, California. The Merced County Fair was first held on September 2, 1891. The first fair was held on 18th Street in Merced and was a joint county fair with neighboring Mariposa County. The Merced County Fair showcases livestock, exhibits, carnival rides, music and fair food each year.
History
Merced County has held a county fair since 1891, except during 1917 and 1918 (World War I), 1936 (financial issues), 1943 to 1945 (World War II), and 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first solo Merced County Fair was held on September 14–15, 1929 at the Applegate Park Municipal Baseball Park. Early fairs hosted a rodeo and 4-H youth organization livestock shows. In 1931, the fair moved to its current site at 11th and G streets, now 900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. In 1937, a parade and a three-day horse racing meeting was added to the fair. The fair closed in 1943 and did not open again till 1946 due to World War II. From 1946 to 2019 & since 2022, the fair has been run by the California Department of Food and Agriculture's 35th District Agricultural Association. The fairgrounds have been used year-round to support other community activities. On the fairgrounds have been the county library branch, a
In 2020, the fair was scheduled for June 10–14, but was cancelled by the fair board due to "COVID-19 public health concerns."[3] The 2021 fair, the 130th, was set for June 9–13, but it was again cancelled by the fair Board of Directors and CEO on March 8, 2021. Reasons given were the ongoing uncertainty of COVID-19 and restrictions on large public events.[4] In 2021, the local economic benefit lost to the cancellation of the fair was around US$23 million.[4]
The 130th fair finally resumed in 2022, from 8–12 June, following a pandemic-based hiatus.
Merced Fairgrounds Speedway
When the fair is not meeting the race track is used for the Merced Fairgrounds Speedway. The speedway is a 0.375-mile
Camp Merced
After the surprise Japanese
The center opened on May 6, 1942 and closed on September 15, 1942. Most of those detained were transferred to a permanent camp,
After the Assembly Center closed, the fairgrounds were turned over to the
See also
References
- ^ "Press Room". Merced County Fair. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
- ^ "History". Merced County Fair. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
- ^ Palmer, John (April 21, 2020). "2020 Merced County Fair Cancelled due to COVID-19 Concerns". YourCentralValley.com. Nexstar Media Inc. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
- ^ a b "2021 Fair Cancelled". Merced County Fair. March 9, 2021. Retrieved June 27, 2021.
- ^ "Merced Speedway". www.mercedspeedway.net. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
- ^ "CFTA-AMA Rd. 5 Merced Speedway Pro/Am Western Championship". www.purplepass.com. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
- ^ "Merced Speedway in Merced, CA (Google Maps)". Virtual Globetrotting. 2008-11-08. Retrieved 2021-01-25.
- FloRacing.
- ISBN 978-0-300-20842-9.
- ^ Beatrice Delja. "CHL # 934.02 Temporary Detention Camp for Japanese Americans/Merced Assembly Center Merced". californiahistoricallandmarks.com. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
- ^ Air Force bases,by Robert Mueller, 1982, Page 398
- ^ "Historic California Posts: Merced Assembly Center - Camp Merced". militarymuseum.org. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
- ^ "National Park Service: Confinement and Ethnicity (Chapter 16)". nps.gov. Retrieved 2020-12-08.
External links
- Mercedian Collection available at Holt-Atherton Special Collections.