Elkanah Watson: Father of the Agricultural Fair

Near the old elm tree that once stood in this park, a man named Elkanah Watson held what may have been the first agricultural fair in American history. It was eighteen oh seven, and Watson, a Massachusetts businessman and civic booster, gathered farmers around that elm to show off two Merino sheep he had imported. The crowd was so interested that Watson organized a proper exhibition in eighteen ten, founding the Berkshire Agricultural Society and becoming its first president.

The idea spread rapidly. County fairs, state fairs, the whole American tradition of gathering to compete over livestock and produce and crafts, all trace a line back to this spot and that informal sheep display. Watson also promoted canals, banking, and westward settlement, but this meadow demonstration beside an elm tree turned out to be his most lasting contribution to American life.