DUANE
Duane's take
Here's my telling of what the official marker has to say about the Amarillo Tri-State Fair. Now settle in, because this is a story that keeps getting interrupted — and keeps coming back stronger every time. Way back in the 1890s, folks out on the Texas Panhandle were already finding reasons to gather.
Organized fairs, horse races — the kind of events that remind you a place is putting down roots. That spirit carried forward, and by 1913 the Panhandle State Fair had been organized. Things were looking good.
Then the world had other ideas. World War I came along, and just like that, the large fairs were suspended — from 1917 all the way to 1921. Four years of silence where there used to be crowds and hoofbeats and the smell of livestock on a cool autumn morning.
But 1921 brought Amarillo back into the picture, and this time it was chosen as a permanent home for a regional fair. Permanent. That's a word with some weight to it out here.
Then in 1923 the Amarillo Tri-State Exposition was chartered — Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico all throwing in together. Three states, one fairground. The very next year, 1924, the property right on this site was purchased.
They had their home. They had their three states. They were building something.
Now, if you've been keeping track, you already know what's coming. The world interrupted again. 1941 — the second World War — and the fair closed its gates a second time. Two world wars, two shutdowns.
But here's the thing about a fair that's already survived one: it knows how to come back. And when it reopened in 1947, it drew record crowds. Record crowds.
Like the Panhandle itself had been holding its breath and finally let it out all at once. Over the years the fair has been the kind of place that holds just about everything a community could want — parades, automobile and horse races, livestock and agricultural exhibitions, technological demonstrations, music, sports, and an old settlers' day. An old settlers' day.
There's something quietly powerful about that, a fair that celebrates the future right alongside the people who remember when there wasn't much here at all. These days the fair hosts about two hundred thousand people every year. Two hundred thousand people rolling through the Panhandle, carrying on a tradition that started with horse races in the 1890s, survived two world wars, and never once forgot where it came from.
What the marker says
A number of organized fairs and horse races occurred in this area beginning in the 1890s. The Panhandle State Fair was organized in 1913, but due to World War I large fairs were suspended from 1917 to 1921, when Amarillo was chosen as a permanent home for a regional fair. In 1923 the Amarillo Tri-State Exposition was chartered with participants from Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. In 1924 the property on this site was purchased. The fair was closed again in 1941 for the second World War; its 1947 reopening drew record crowds. Fair activities have included parades, automobile and horse races, livestock and agricultural exhibitions, technological demonstrations, music, sports, and an old settlers' day. The fair hosts about 200,000 people annually. (1998)