Clarke County Fairgrounds beginnings

According to records the first organizations of farmers in the county was formed in 1868 and out of this grew the first county fair. It was held at a fairgrounds northeast of Osceola. Prominent members in the organization and operation were O.P. Anderson, W. C. Gregg, T. H. Brown, James Brown, R. B. Parrott, John McDonough, A. H. Burrows, R. A. Dague and John Diehl. That organization no sooner failed and efforts started to revive the fair. The Clarke County Farmers & Mechanics Agricultural Society was organized under the leadership of McDonough and E. F. Riley July 1, 1872 continuing over 13 years. There is no record of when or why it eventually failed. There was no organized effort to reestablish it.

In the l920’s to 1940’s the 4-H exhibition day was called the Osceola Corn and Cake Show and Farmer’s Institute. The 4-H boys showed their livestock at sale barns and even the Courthouse square while the girls’ exhibits were on display at the High School building.

March 1, 1947 the Clarke County 4-H Association was incorporated was formed laying the foundation for the County Fair as we know it today. Incorporators were Cecil Lutz, Walter Cothern, Carl Handrock, Harold Moran, W. V. Fuller, Denzel Aringdale, W. E. Keeler, Arthur Coffman, Doyce Miller, Harold W. Smith, Floyd Newman, Harley Ramsey, R. K. McGee and Nolan Myers.

Ten acres of ground was purchased six blocks north of the northwest corner of the square for $7,500 for a combined high school athletic field and fairgrounds. The school purchasing four acres and the fair board six. It was a field shoulder deep in cornstalks with no buildings on it. A tract was cleared and graded, a rock road built and two livestock barns completed. Most of the work in building the Fairgrounds was done by volunteer labor.

A large Administration building 40 feet wide by 100 feet long was built where open class and 4-H girl’s exhibits were displayed. The building was the largest single room in the City. Several small buildings formerly used in a war plant were moved onto the grounds. Later on livestock barns and a show ring were built. A softball diamond was built a few years later. Football games were played on the new football field in the fall of 1950. A 2100 foot landing strip for airshows and Iowa’s Flying Farmers scheduled to land at the Fairgrounds was built by community citizens on rented ground adjoining the fairgrounds extending northwest from the northwest corner of the grounds.

In 1960 a cement square dance slab was added to the grounds by the Osceola Square Dance Club. A roof was later put over the slab and in 1969 it was permanently enclosed.

The 4-H program, designed to reach rural youth, has come a long way since its beginnings as a school club for farm boys and girls.