In the nineteenth century, when Wisconsin was primarily rural, the state promoted a fair to improve farming practices, but because that fair had been held in southern Wisconsin since 1851, Chippewa Falls area citizens found it impractical to enter or attend and drafted a charter for a Northern Wisconsin State Fair. Enacted by the State of Wisconsin in 1897, it was intended to improve agriculture, horticulture, and mechanical and household arts. Serving a twenty-seven-county district, it has played a central role in northern Wisconsin for more than one hundred years, as self-sufficient farming families brought chickens, sheep, cows, rabbits, horses, and pigs and displayed prize pies, breads, and canned goods. As Wisconsin became more urbanized, the fair also reflected changes in industry and technology, from Model Ts to satellite dishes, and the fairground buildings continue to display individual and community achievement in northern Wisconsin.