East Texas State Fair history

When the Texas Legislature banned gambling on horse races in 1903, thereby eliminating the Fair’s main source of income, the association faced a financial crisis.

To protect this valuable community asset, the Texas State Fair spurned offers from developers and sold its property to the City of Dallas in 1904 under an agreement that set aside a period each fall to hold the annual exposition.

The reorganized State Fair of Texas prospered immediately, establishing new records for receipts and attendance as 300,000 people streamed through the gates in 1905.

One of the first fairs in the city was held during the first week of October 1907.

Attendance topped the 1 million mark in 1916.

Ben Jackson was president of the first Fair Association in 1921.

A magnificent auditorium – which eventually would be known as the Music Hall – was completed in 1925, and outstanding New York shows were presented to Texas audiences for the first time.

The Texas-OU football game was established as an annual fairtime event in 1929.

And in 1930, the race track complex was razed to permit construction of 46,000-seat Fair Park Stadium – later renamed the Cotton Bowl.

In 1934, largely through the efforts of civic leader R.L. Thornton, Fair Park was selected as the central exposition site for the proposed Texas Centennial celebration.

No state fair was scheduled in 1935, and construction began on a $25 million project that transformed the existing fairgrounds into a masterpiece of art and imagination.

Fairs all across the nation ceased to function because of the war, but at an invitation from the city and the military (due to soldiers being stationed near Beaumont and in need of entertainment and diversion from army life), the YMBL assumed operation of the Fair in 1942.

The South Texas State Fair drew more than 250,000 in 1957, and since that time estimated attendance has grown and the Fair continues to draw attendees from ten counties in South East Texas and three South West Louisiana parishes.

Since 1960, each exposition has been keyed to a theme.

In 1968, the total number of fairgoers exceeded 3 million for the first time.

In 1986, Fair Park was designated a National Historic Landmark, and the State Fair of Texas hosted a 31-day exposition celebrating both the Texas Sesquicentennial and the Fair’s own 100th anniversary.

Mitchell Glieber, who had served the Fair since 1999 in marketing roles, took over and first on his to-do list was to refresh the mission statement of the 128-year nonprofit organization.

While the overall attendance record (286,149 in 2007) has yet to be broken, the Fair saw the largest Wednesday and the largest Sunday in the event’s history.