Ep. 18 - Minnesota State Fair: The First 50 Years

Crowds at the Minnesota State Fair, ca. 1900 - 1910.

The Minnesota State Fair draws around 2 million fairgoers each year, more per day than any other fair in the nation. But how did it get started in the first place? In this episode, we'll explore the origins of the Great Minnesota Get-Together and track the fair's growth and evolution over its first fifty years.

We'll see how a small territorial agricultural show grew into one of the state's most hallowed annual traditions in spite of repeated bankruptcies, a Civil War, a tornado, scandal and controversy, and how it was almost destroyed by the bitter rivalry between Minneapolis and Saint Paul. Along the way we'll meet giant produce, "female equestriennes," hucksters and hustlers, dueling state fairs, illicit gambling, problematic carnival games, and find out why the "Temperance Tent" at the 1904 fair was actually a covert den of iniquity.

(Content Warning: Brief discussion of incredibly racist carnival attractions that may be disturbing to some. This occurs from about 01:00:00 until 01:02:30)

Related Images

The first newspaper announcement of the formation of a Minnesota Territorial Agricultural Society, which would lead to the establishment of the Territorial and the later State Fair:

Weekly Pioneer and Democrat, December 22, 1853.

The 1860 State Fair, held within the walls of historic Fort Snelling. In the stand at the far end near the center of the photo, Senator Cassius Clay is giving a long-winded speech that most spectators found undecipherable.

Th Kittsondale racetrack, near present-day Snelling and University, that served as a fairgrounds from 1871-1876:

Minneapolis booster, businessman, newspaper mogul, politician, and promoter William ("Bill") S. King:

Some of the buildings built for the 1877 fair in Minneapolis:

A view inside the Agricultural Hall at the 1877 State Fair held in Minneapolis, managed by Bill King (not pictured: all the gambling, "sinful attractions," and drunken debauchery Bill King's critics accused him of bringing to the fair):

The temporary "State Fair Hotel," hastily erected near the fairgrounds in Minneapolis in 1877 to take advantage of the influx of fairgoers:

Newspaper coverage of the dueling fairs of 1878:

President Rutherford B. Hayes greets farmers at the 1878 Minnesota State Fair in St. Paul:

Coverage of the 1878 St. Paul fair in Harper's Weekly,

Harper's Weekly, September 28, 1877.

Poster for the ill-fated Owatonna fair in 1883:

Poster advertising the first fair and the new, permanent fairgrounds in 1885:

Another ad for the 1885 fair:

St. Paul Globe, September 5th, 1885.

The first buildings at the new, permanent miday fairgrounds, designed by the chief engineer for the Great Northern Railway, James Brodie:

Newspaper ad for the 1890 fair. Note the exciting return of the Female Equestriennes:

Poster promoting the 1897 fair and its musical programs:

In the summer of 1898, the fairgrounds were named "Camp Ramsey and used to train Minnesota Infantry for sevice in the Spanish American and Philipine American wars:

Vice President President Roosevelt speaking about his big stick at the Minnesota State Fair on September 2nd, 1901, four days before the assassination of President McKinley elevated him to the Presidency:

Judging beef at the Grandstand in 1902:

A 1903 panorama of the racetrack at the fairgrounds:

An undated photo of the fair, sometime around 1900, showing the mix of tents and permanent buildings:

An aerialist paracutes out of a baloon, 1903:

Attractions outside the Grandstand, 1903:

Entrance to the "The Mighty Pike" entertainment district (later renamed the Mighty Midway), 1904:

The "Mighty Pike," aka Midway, ca. 1908:

Crowds at the State Fair, ca 1900 - 1910:

Sources Cited

Gilman, Rhoda. "Pioneer Aeronaut: William Markoe and His Balloon." Minnesota History

Vol. 38, No. 4 (Dec., 1962), pp. 166-176

Hayes, Gordon. “Minnesota’s Wandering Fair and How It Settled in Saint Paul.” Ramsey County History, vol. 11, no. 1 (spring 1974), pp. 12-17.

Jarchow, Merril. “Early Minnesota Agricultural Societies and Fairs.” Minnesota History, vol. 22 no. 3 (Sept. 1941), pp. 249-269.

Koutsky, Kathryn Strand, and Koutsky, Linda. Minnesota State Fair: An Illustrated History. (Minneapolis: Coffee House Press, 2007).

Marling, Karal Ann. Blue Ribbon: A Social and Pictorial History of the State Fair. (Saint Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1990)

Minnesota State Agricultural Society, Minnesota State Fair History, https://www.mnstatefair.org/about/media/history

Speer, Ray. “What Ho! The State Fair. The Big Million Dollar Show is Ready to Receive You.” Western Magazine, vol. 16, no. 3 (Sept. 1920), pp. 127-130.

Podcast Credits

'Minnesota Unknown is produced, hosted, written, and researched by Alex Weston, Hannah Norton, and Josie Bergmann. This episode was edited by Alex Weston. Our theme song is by Union Shakedown. This episode is copyright 2026 by Minnesota Unknown, LLC. All rights reserved.

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