Celebrating the 80th Fair at the Fairgrounds

The property for the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds was purchased at its Tully Road location in 1940, with the first fair taking place October 7 – 12, 1941.   This year marks the 80^th fair being held at the fairgrounds (having been suspended during the war years of 1942 – 1945), and will take place July 25-28 and August 1-4, 2024. 

A Visit with Clyde Arbuckle

My earliest memory of the fairgrounds was an elementary school class visit to City Historian Clyde Arbuckle.  He had a collection of historic materials housed in the replica State House that had been moved to the fairgrounds from Cesar Chavez Park in the 1950s.  The materials that he shared with us was the beginnings of what would become History San Jose. The California Room and History San Jose digital collections can be found on Calisphere.

Over the Years

Besides the many fairs that I attended over the years, I also attended Scout-O-Ramas with the Cub Scouts and a wide range of events including races, car shows, gun, coin and antique shows, and high school graduation in the grandstands.  The fairs were always fun and I always looked forward to the Orange Julius booth and the fry bread.  I took my son out when he was small and went down the slides and made an inordinate number of circuits through the haunted house.

Into the Future

Proposals for use of undeveloped fairgrounds property include leases to the San Jose Earthquakes for public soccer fields and a training facility, to the American Cricket Enterprise for a cricket stadium, and to San Jose State University for a commemorative track and field facility. 

Exhibit:  Celebrating Our County Fairgrounds

About the Exhibit

A collection of photographs and memorabilia on loan from the Fairgrounds Heritage Foundation.

More Details

• Date:  July 5 - September 28, 2024
• Time:  During California Room hours
• Where: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library, California Room, 5th floor
• Cost:  Free

Further Reading in the California Room:

• Clyde Arbuckle Research Collection 
• California Room Index:  fairgrounds
• California Room aerials
• Calisphere: santa clara county fairgrounds
• Newsbank (with your SJPL library card and pin)