In 1846, the same year Mahoning County was created, Ohio’s General Assembly passed an act for the encouragement of agriculture, and out of that legislation came the Mahoning County Agricultural Society in April 1847. With 170 members, the Society planned competitions for premiums to be awarded at an annual fair and cattle show the following fall, and Canfield, as the county’s geographic center, was chosen for the first fair. In October, from the lawn of the First Congregational Church, Comptroller of the United State Treasury Elisha Whittlesey welcomed participants. Admission cost one shilling, or twelve and one half cents, and the Village Green was filled with exhibitions of livestock, harvests, plowing contests, and horse racing. The earliest fairs lasted one day and were attended mainly by gentlemen, while the church gave ladies a place to exhibit their handiwork. By the 1850s, the fair had become a family event, with picnic baskets and full-day visits, and it continued to grow through youth participation in Junior Fair, 4-H, and other activities. Over the years it reflected changing times: agriculture and 50-yoke oxen trains marked the early period; by the 1880s railroad excursions from Youngstown brought visitors to Canfield; Education Hall was built to display local talent; the light bulb extended hours in 1924; and the Depression Era brought a new grandstand, offices, and roads built by the Works Progress Alliance. The grounds eventually expanded to 350 acres with many well-kept buildings, and years of responsible stewardship were said to promise a future of exciting attractions.
