History:

The Richhill Agricultural, Mechanical, and Manufacturing Association (as it was called in the charter) formed July 6, 1866. There were 280 shares of stock sold to fund the fair. The first Jacksonville Fair (as it was initially named) occurred on October 3rd and 4th of that same year. The fair throughout much of the rest of the 1800s and early 1900s consisted of horse racing as the main event. And there were of course the contests that created the inevitable bragging rights of farmers, homemakers and craftsmen. Entries were taken in a large variety of categories – livestock, linen and clothing, cotton, leather, needlework, farm machinery, grains, produce, arts, furniture, flowers, bread, preserves, and even horse shoes.