![]() Both proved to be a financial flop, so the State Fair returned to Indianapolis in 1855.īy 1860, the State Fair had outgrown Military Park, so the managers purchased 36 acres north of the city in an area known as the Otis Grove. Other cities clamored for their fair share of the State Fair’s bounty, so the event was moved to Lafayette in 1853 and Madison in 1854. ![]() There were 15,000 visitors the first day, 25,000 on the second, and by the third day the fair crowds had overflowed to every corner of the city where a wide variety of sideshows were providing entertainment. Farmers from Indiana and Kentucky flocked to the fair to show their stock and marvel at the latest advances in farm machinery, while women were awestruck by a wonderful invention that would free up hours in their day – the Singer sewing machine. Indiana’s first state fair was held in October 1852 on the grounds of Military Park. ![]() The empty envelope recently sold on eBay for $28. The image shown at the bottom is from the back of an envelope promoting the new Exposition Building. Pictured above is the site plan for the first State Fair, held in Military Park. Kemp is now in feeble health …and he now finds himself in his old age a poor man.”ĭespite his dwindling fortune, Kemp refused to sell his State Fair prize for the value of the silver. It was passed down to his grandchildren, who carefully tucked a note inside the cup explaining the cup’s significance to their family. According to an 1882 history of Randolph County, “ Mr. His first wife had died, and an ill-advised second marriage had ended in divorce. The once-affluent farmer had lost his health, his wealth and most of his personal property. The premium was a silver loving cup, which Kemp had proudly engraved with his name when he returned home to Winchester.īy the 1880s, however, Kemp had fallen on hard times. Nathaniel Kemp was a prominent farmer and county commissioner when he traveled to Indianapolis in 1856 and took First Prize for the Best Bushel of Wheat at the Indiana State Fair. ![]() In honor of the Indiana State Fair, today’s post is a revised and expanded version of a 2011 article I wrote featuring some of the prizes, trinkets and advertising that represent the State Fair’s 162-year-history. ![]()
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