Gouveneur and St. Lawrence County Fair

From Gouveneur and St. Lawrence County Fair Website:

July 31-August 5, 2018

One Hundred and Fifty years ago several villages in St. Lawrence County held annual fairs. The villages were very rural, agriculturally based, and had limited modes of transportation, the fair was often the highlight of the year. This was the time to show off that steer, horse, or pig. It was bragging rights time. Who would win the blue ribbon and get to boast about having the best horse for the next whole year? Whose wife would bake the best pie or sew the best dress? All of these questions were heavily debated and the competition was serious and intense.

Among those villages holding fairs were Ogdensburg, Canton, Gouverneur, and Potsdam. Canton, being the County Seat, sought and received a charter declaring them the St. Lawrence County Fair in 1851.

The St. Lawrence County Fair

Ebenezer Miner (Miner St.,Canton) was one of several founders of the St. Lawrence County Fair held in the village of Canton. The purposes of the fair being to display agricultural exhibits such as horses, oxen, cattle, poultry, and swine. The animals were usually displayed by the men in the family, while the women competed in the sewing and cooking related events.

The fairgrounds in the village of Canton were located adjacent to what is now Riverside Drive and Fairway Lane. Much of the property was in back of what is now Canton Central School. The old fairgrounds are now occupied by housing laid out surprisingly enough in an oval, the same shape as the original racetrack. The Fair was always in mid-September and was like Christmas and Fourth of July, big dates on the Canton calendar.