History of the Westport Fair.

By Jon Alden

Vice President, Westport Historical Society

Saturday, July 19, 2008

“Three years ago a little group met at the Head of Westport to make plans for a County fair. The situation was not very bright, there were no grounds, no equipment, no funds, and no experience; they went ahead buoyed by their faith in the assistance of their neighbors and a knowledge that just as goof stuff was raised in Dartmouth and Westport as in any other town. The result you know.”

“Our first Fair was a success far beyond their expectation. The next year it even outstripped the first year. Men familiar with other Fairs said that for farm products Westport Fair beat them all. This year we are to have our third fair and the indications are that we shall exceed last years success.” – Excerpts from the 1912 Souvenir Book of the Westport Fair.

Our Motto:

Not a Circus nor a Coney Island, but an Educational Exhibit of Farm Products

1910, by all accounts, was the first year of an organized agricultural fair in Westport. Recent local newspaper accounts, however, erroneously point to 1955 as the year of the first Westport Fair. It is true that The Westport Fair was re-established in 1955, under the leadership of Thomas McGarr (Voc-Ag Instructor) and Harold S. Wood (Principal), along with the support of the Westport High School Committee. The purpose of the fair was to promote agriculture in the town, and to show projects that the vocational students had completed. As time went on, it became the social event of the summer with many people looking forward to its arrival each year.

It is interesting to note that in 1909 the Fair’s founders pointed out that the “Agricultural Department of the United States deplores the passing of the old fashioned county fair. The old fashioned fair was a place where the farmers met once a year to compare their products, to exhibit their stock and to buy and sell, after a while it degenerated into a carnival.”

The early Westport Fair organizers tried to achieve what Thomas McGarr (Voc-Ag Instructor) and Harold S. Wood (Principal) tried to achieve in 1955; that is, that the Westport fair be devoted to farm products as its first interest.

The initial Westport Fair took place at the Head of Westport town landing, and many exhibits were located on the second floor of the Bell School House.

The original Westport fair appears to have been discontinued in the late 1930’s, probably another victim of the terrible, great depression.

While the 2008 Westport Fair does have its fair share of carnival attributes, we should thank our lucky stars that Westport has retained its agricultural roots, and that those roots remain a part of the Fair: vegetable and canning competitions, floral arrangements, hay competitions, animal stock exhibitions and competitions, and of course the world-famous tractor pulls and antique tractor displays. And, much to the surprise of many, the Westport Fair remains alcohol free!

“The Westport Fair is devoted to farm products as its first interest. It has no side shows, no balloons, no gambling, no liquor, but just farm products.”

“Remember this that the Westport Fair is a farmers fair, run by farmers, for farmers, in a farming village, but all the city folks come just the same.” – Excerpts from the 1912 Souvenir Book of the Westport Fair.

Editor’s note: punctuation errors in the quotations are from the original text.

Click on the images to enlarge.

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