About

As agricultural activities including farming, raising animals and vegetables for food provisions and tillage of the soil has been a principal source of wealth of the county, every measure tending to the promotion of this object is deserving of notice. Such was the feeling of community leaders in 1817, which prompted the formation of the Agricultural Society.

The fair was first organized as the Jefferson County Agricultural Society in this city on October 25, 1817, but was inspired by an event prior to that which showed the first act of encouragement for agricultural interests and manufacturers in the county. On April 8, 1808, a competition was scheduled for anyone living in the county to prove who could produce the best woolen cloth of texture and quality not less than 30 yards long.