The NC State Fair: 170 Years of Harvest Ritual

The North Carolina State Fair has run since eighteen fifty-three, one of America's oldest agricultural fairs, though this particular site only became its home in nineteen twenty-eight.

The fair itself traces its roots to a vision of the North Carolina Agricultural Society, founded in the early eighteen hundreds by planters and reformers who believed that showcasing better farming methods could lift a cash-poor state. For decades the fair moved between temporary venues, but in nineteen twenty-seven the state legislature set aside two hundred acres on Hillsborough Street, just west of what was then the North Carolina State College of Agriculture. Local money came from Wake County; old fairgrounds were sold; and construction began on a cluster of Mediterranean Revival buildings designed by the architectural firm of Atwood and Weeks.

When the fair opened here in nineteen twenty-eight, those Commercial and Educational buildings became the architectural anchors of a new permanent home. They still stand and are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The crown jewel added later is Dorton Arena, opened in nineteen fifty-two, whose saddle-shaped cable-supported roof was an engineering marvel so ahead of its time that it drew architects from around the world.

Today the fairgrounds cover three hundred forty-four acres. Every October, more than a million North Carolinians come through the gates to watch livestock judging, eat deep-fried everything, and ride the midway. That continuity matters: in a state that has shed tobacco farms and textile mills, the State Fair remains a yearly reminder of what North Carolina's economy was built on, and a living agricultural education for children who have never touched a plow.

The tradition of gathering here in the fall predates the Civil War, predates electricity, and predates the automobile. Whatever else changes in Raleigh's skyline, October still brings the smell of funnel cake and hay to this corner of the city.