Learning from the Past: The History of the Elkhart County 4-H Fair

ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. (WNDU) - It’s a big year at the Elkhart County 4-H Fair, as the fair is celebrating its 150th anniversary!

“It actually started 172 years ago, but there were several years we didn’t have the fair because of the civil war, some other war issues,” said Chris Gillam, chairman of the 150th Celebration Committee. “There was a lot of financial trouble in the early 1900s. But after about 1920, 1925, it kept going after that.”

It started as an ag fair, with farmers meeting on the county courthouse lawn to discuss agriculture.

“4-H didn’t come until 1927,” Gillam said.

And then in the 1940s, a big division took place.

“The American Legion kind of ran the fair, and they had a little bit of a disagreement with the 4-H program on what types of activities they would do here.”

The big disagreement was over the carnival, some of the entertainment, and harness racing.

“And so, 4-H left the fair, and there were two fairs in the county,” Gillam said. “One held (at the present-day fairgrounds), and one held at Rice Field in Elkhart for all the 4-H events.”

But then in 1955, the division ended, and the fair came back.

“It’s been the Elkhart County 4-H Fair ever since,” Gillam said.

Through the years, there were countless changes. Buildings were torn down; new things were put up, and the prices have gone up just slightly. In 1950, you could get half a chicken dinner for $1.95 and a hot dog for 20 cents!

Today, it continues to hold the title of the largest county fair in Hoosier state.

“It’s a generational thing,” Gillam said. “People just keep coming because it’s like old home week, and you get to see everybody that you’ve been involved with. And there’s a lot of pride that’s taken in saying ‘my grandparents did this or they were here.’ People want to get involved, and it’s a really nice thing for the county.”

For everything you need to know about this year’s fair, click here.