Long before the Ferris wheel, corn dogs and concerts became staples of Springfield, the Illinois State Fair was already bringing people together.
The first Illinois State Fair was held in Springfield in 1853, when the city was a small capital and Abraham Lincoln was serving his final year in the Illinois General Assembly. The fair was designed primarily to show off agriculture, livestock, industry, education and the arts. Admission cost 25 cents, and as many as 20,000 people attended its third day.
The following year, the fair became an unlikely stage for Illinois politics. U.S. Senator Stephen A. Douglas spoke at the 1854 fair, with Lincoln delivering a rebuttal the next day.
Springfield did not remain the fair’s permanent home immediately. The event traveled to 12 different Illinois communities over the years including Chicago, Peoria, Quincy, Decatur and Centralia. It eventually returned to Springfield for good, with the first permanently located fair opening Sept. 24, 1894.
Much of the fairgrounds history remains visible today. The exposition building, constructed in 1894, is the oldest building on the grounds. The fairgrounds also acquired the Dome building from the 1893 World’s Colombian Exposition in Chicago. The massive structure was reassembled in Springfield for the 1895 fair, but was destroyed by a fire in 1917.
Today, the fair covers 366 acres, and has grown into an 11-day event. It features a wide variety of events, staying true to its roots featuring livestock and agriculture, but also modernizing with things like concerts and unconventional food.
More than 170 years after the first fair, the Illinois State Fair remains a staple in Springfield. It connects the past of Lincoln and Douglas to the present of how we see Illinois today.
