Fairs in the Denton area began with the Denton County Blooded Stock and Fair, which opened on October 15, 1885, and through the late 1800s and early 1900s continued to recognize local livestock and agricultural competitors. The event known today as the North Texas State Fair began as the Denton County Fair in 1928 and was officially chartered in 1930, when the Denton County Fair Association secured about 13 acres on east Hickory Street for new fairgrounds. It grew with livestock and agricultural entries, entertainment, parades, music, and social events, was canceled in 1942 because of World War II, and resumed in 1946. In 1948, Dr. W. C. Kimbrough sold the association 22 acres in northeast Denton for $5.00, and the fair has been held there since 1949. Several permanent buildings were added in the late 1950s, including Fair Hall, which had originally been used at the World War II German prisoner of war camp at Camp Howze outside Gainesville and was moved to the site in the 1940s. In 1958, the Denton County Agricultural Fair Association changed the name to the North Texas State Fair. By the late 1980s, the fair expanded beyond local cowboy competition by bringing in the first professional rodeo cowboys association rodeo, and its rodeo and other activities continue to highlight the area's farming legacy and the heritage and economic importance of Denton County's ranching and farming community.