North Texas State Fair and Rodeo

Duane's take

The official marker tells this story, and I'm just the one passin' it along. Now, if you want to talk about a tradition that's been growin' since before most of Texas had electric lights, pull up a chair, because the North Texas State Fair and Rodeo has been part of Denton County life for a long, long time. It all starts on October 15, 1885, the first recorded fair in the Denton area, going by the name of the Denton County Blooded Stock and Fair.

Right out of the gate, this wasn't some thrown-together affair. Livestock, agriculture, local competitors proud of what they'd raised from the ground up. And that spirit didn't quit.

Through the late 1800s and on into the early 1900s, area fairs kept right on recognizing the farmers and ranchers doing the hard work that kept Denton County alive. Then in 1928, something a little more permanent took shape. The Denton County Fair was born, and by 1930 it was officially chartered.

That same year, the Denton County Fair Association arranged for new fairgrounds: a tract of about thirteen acres of land on East Hickory Street. They had room now. Room to grow, room to parade, room to fill with music and livestock entries and the kind of social events that let a whole county breathe for a few days.

And grow it did. Right up until the world intervened. In 1942, the fair was cancelled.

World War II had a way of doing that to things. But Denton County was patient. The fair resumed in 1946, and it got right back to the business of bringin' people together.

Now here's a detail that tends to stop people cold. In 1948, a pioneer Denton physician by the name of Dr. W.C.

Kimbrough sold the association twenty-two acres of land in northeast Denton. The price? Five dollars.

Five dollars for twenty-two acres. The fair has been held at that location ever since, starting in 1949, which tells you something about how a community values what it wants to keep. During the late 1950s, permanent buildings started going up on those fairgrounds.

And the oldest building still standing there, Fair Hall, has a history all its own. That building was originally used at the World War II German prisoner of war camp site at Camp Howze, outside of Gainesville. It was moved to the fairgrounds in the 1940s.

So when you walk through Fair Hall, you're walking through more history than the fair alone. In 1958, the Denton County Agricultural Fair Association voted to change the name to the North Texas State Fair. The identity was expanding to match the ambition.

Then, by the late 1980s, the fair took another step. It began to move beyond local cowboy competition and brought in the first Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, PRCA, rodeo. That's when the word Rodeo really earned its place in the name.

Today, thousands of spectators show up every year. The rodeo, the farming legacy, the whole living tradition of Denton County's ranching and agricultural roots, it's all still there on those twenty-two acres that once changed hands for five dollars. From the Denton County Blooded Stock and Fair in 1885 to a PRCA rodeo drawing thousands, some things start small, some things start with five dollars, and some things just keep growing.

That's Denton County for you.

What the marker says

NORTH TEXAS STATE FAIR AND RODEO THE FIRST RECORDED FAIR IN THE DENTON AREA OPENED ON OCTOBER 15, 1885 AS THE DENTON COUNTY BLOODED STOCK AND FAIR. THROUGHOUT THE LATE 1800s AND EARLY 1900s, AREA FAIRS CONTINUED TO RECOGNIZE LOCAL LIVESTOCK AND AGRICULTURAL COMPETITORS. THE NORTH TEXAS STATE FAIR, AS IT IS KNOWN TODAY, BEGAN AS THE DENTON COUNTY FAIR IN 1928 AND WAS OFFICIALLY CHARTERED IN 1930. THAT SAME YEAR, THE DENTON COUNTY FAIR ASSOCIATION ARRANGED FOR NEW FAIRGROUNDS, A TRACT OF ABOUT 13 ACRES OF LAND ON EAST HICKORY STREET. THE FAIR CONTINUED TO GROW AND PROSPER WITH LIVESTOCK AND AGRICULTURAL ENTRIES AND A VARIETY OF ENTERTAINMENT, PARADES, MUSIC, AND SOCIAL EVENTS. IN 1942, THE FAIR WAS CANCELLED DUE TO WORLD WAR II; IT RESUMED IN 1946. DR. W.C. KIMBROUGH, A PIONEER DENTON PHYSICIAN, SOLD THE ASSOCIATION 22 ACRES OF LAND IN NORTHEAST DENTON IN 1948 FOR $5.00. THE FAIR HAS BEEN HELD AT THIS LOCATION SINCE 1949. DURING THE LATE 1950s, SEVERAL PERMANENT BUILDINGS WERE ERECTED ON THE FAIRGROUNDS. THE OLDEST BUILDING, FAIR HALL, WAS ORIGINALLY USED AT THE WORLD WAR II GERMAN PRISONER OF WAR CAMP SITE AT CAMP HOWZE OUTSIDE OF GAINESVILLE BUT WAS MOVED TO THE SITE IN THE 1940s. THE DENTON COUNTY AGRICULTURAL FAIR ASSOCIATION VOTED TO CHANGE THE NAME TO THE NORTH TEXAS STATE FAIR IN 1958. BY THE LATE 1980s, THE FAIR BEGAN TO MOVE BEYOND THE LOCAL COWBOY COMPETITION AND BROUGHT THE FIRST PROFESSIONAL RODEO COWBOYS ASSOCIATION (PRCA) RODEO TO THE FAIR. THE RODEO AND OTHER ACTIVITIES HELD AT THE FAIR CONTINUE TO SHOWCASE THE AREA’S FARMING LEGACY AND DRAW THOUSANDS OF SPECTATORS EACH YEAR. THIS HISTORIC TRADITION SYMBOLIZES THE ECONOMIC IMPACT AND RICH HERITAGE OF THE RANCHING AND FARMING COMMUNITY IN RURAL DENTON COUNTY.