Lamar County Fair

Duane's take

The way the marker tells it, here's what happened in Lamar County. Five Paris businessmen got together in 1911 and decided their town needed a fair. Just five men and an idea.

They were Guy S. Caldwell, C. J.

Musselman, John C. Gibbons, Rube Wells, and Dr. M.

L. Maxwell. And to get the whole thing moving, each one of them reached into his pocket and put up exactly one hundred dollars.

Five men, five hundred dollars total, and a dream for Lamar County. Now, a man named Henry Clement helped them along by loaning the association property on which to erect the fair buildings. So they had their ground, they had their seed money, and the Lamar County Fair Association was open for business.

But here's the thing about a fairground, it's more than just a place for ribbons and rides. When a major fire tore through Paris in 1916, that fair property became an emergency relief camp and shelter for the people who needed it most. The fairgrounds held the community when the community had nowhere else to go.

Then, five years on, they built something lasting. A coliseum, designed by architect J. L.

Wees, completed in 1921, and it has been the site of many activities ever since. Five men, one hundred dollars apiece, a borrowed piece of land, and something that outlasted all of them. That's Lamar County for you.

What the marker says

Five Paris businessmen founded the Lamar County Fair Association in 1911: Guy S. Caldwell (1875-1937), C. J. Musselman (1884-1951), John C. Gibbons (1895-1936), Rube Wells (1859-1951), and Dr. M. L. Maxwell (1865-1939). Each of the men invested one hundred dollars to begin the venture, and Henry Clement loaned them property on which to erect fair buildings. The fair property served as an emergency relief camp and shelter following a major fire in Paris in 1916. The coliseum, designed by architect J. L. Wees, was completed in 1921 and has been the site of many activities. Texas Sesquicentennial 1836 - 1986