SeMoFair.com
Title
Semo District Fair
Description
Probably the event that has brought more people together in Southeast Missouri, extending over the longest period is the SEMO District Fair. This year marks the 151st celebration of the “Old Cape Fair”. The fair has served as a great diversion for the people of the area that planned and saved money to attend over generations.
The United States was first an agricultural nation, and fairs were originally started to promote and improve the quality of farm products by encouraging farmers to develop new and better techniques in the raising of livestock and agricultural crops.
By an act of legislature, the Southeast Missouri District Agricultural Society was incorporated in 1855 to serve 23 counties of the region. General Nathenial W. Watkins of Jackson was elected the first president. The fair was held the first week in October at Cape Girardeau. The place selected was the Bierwirth's farm, in a wooded grove on what is now South Frederick Street. The Fairgrounds were taken over by the United States as a campground for troops who were stationed at Fort C, the site of the old St. Francis Hospital on the corner of Good Hope and Pacific. The Army soon destroyed all the fair buildings, and the end of the Civil War left the grounds in an unusable state.
