![]() ![]() However, when the air force trucks finally pulled out and the fair gates opened once again, Iowans packed the fairgrounds. During this time the grounds were used for storing military equipment and ammunition. Plans for the 1942 fair were cancelled, and the fair was not held again until 1946. The jubilee years of the fair were brought to a sudden halt as World War II gripped the nation in the 1940s. Over 500 people exhibited products in the space. Machinery Hall was remodeled and became the Varied Industries Building. Building construction continued with a new poultry building. New musical shows and thrill events were featured. Social clubs and volunteer groups created displays a new midway was built. In 1929 twenty-five thousand Iowans poured into the fairgrounds to celebrate the fair's 75th anniversary. This show was so huge that in 1925 the Iowa State Fair and Exposition was renamed the Iowa State Fair and National Livestock Show. Ten new buildings were added to the grounds: the new Horticultural, Agricultural, and Dairy Building, were constructed in 1904 the new Machinery Hall was built in 1911 and the new Cattle Barn and Sale Pavilion was built in 1920. Educational programs about topics other than agriculture became increasingly common. The Fair GrowsÄespite bad weather, poor harvests, and the beginning of World War I, rapid growth peaked during the first 30 years of the 1900s. Fireworks, bicycle races, hog-calling competitions, fiddling contests, and even locomotive collisions were added to the fair program. In 1879 Des Moines was chosen as the permanent site for the Iowa State Fair. Because of better transportation and increased population, the planners believed it was time for the fair to have a home. A Home for the FairÄ«y the late 1800s the Iowa State Fair began to change. ![]() Activities such as gambling were discouraged. Men and women exchanged farming experiences during the evening sessions held in the city hall or church. In pioneering times, the fair location changed about every two years and it was strictly an agricultural event. The main and only feature of entertainment was a women's riding competition. Nearly 10,000 Iowans traveled by foot, horseback, and covered wagon to this educational and social event. Six acres of land, a 250-foot-long shed, and a dirt racetrack hosted the simple livestock show of 100 horses, 11 pigs, and a handful of grain and implement displays. Iowa's first fair was in Fairfield in October 1854. ![]()
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