This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
The Great New York State Fair Origin Story
Henry W. Schramm writes the first complete history of the New York State Fair. He notes fairs date to biblical times and medieval Europe and were nurtured in New York starting with Elkanah Watson’s Merino sheep in the early 1800s. The first state fair in Syracuse drew about 20 000 attendees in 1841.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Henry W. Schramm
Schramm
New York State
England
New Yorker
Elkanah Watson
Pittsfield
Mass
Watson
Massachusetts Agricultural Society
Onondaga Hill
Onondaga County
Syracuse
Chamber of Commerce