The Arcane Texas Fact of the Day: Its true that the Texas State Fair was originally held in Houston. From 1871 to 1878, the State Fair was a Bayou City event. The location of the fair was on the north bank of Buffalo Bayou south of Washington Avenue. Today, the topography of the area has been changed by the 1927 channelization of the bayou, which removed a long curve of the bayou below Preston Avenue. Washington Avenue also has been re-routed closer to the bayou and connected with Franklin Avenue. The original fair grounds would now be situated on the lanes of Franklin Avenue and the parking lot of the U. S. Post Office. In 1874, a large number of Native Americans came to the fair and camped near McGowen Street and Travis Street. Their presence proved uneventful. The fair was discontinued in 1879 because of an economic depression and because a yellow fever epidemic gripped the city. A group of businessmen in Dallas organized the event in 1886 and Dallas has been the site of the State Fair ever since.
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 12:00:00 +0000