June 12, 2018
County fairs have been part of the Minnesota experience for generations, and Hennepin County is no exception. This ribbon comes from the 1930 Hennepin County Fair, and is one of many ribbons in Hennepin History Museum’s County Fair Collection.
“Outside the city of Minneapolis, Hennepin County is one of the richest agricultural areas in all the northwest,” reported the Minneapolis Tribune in August 1930 in an article extolling the virtues of Hennepin County as an agricultural powerhouse. The Hennepin County Fair, they wrote, was the perfect place to see this agricultural legacy in action: “A visit to Hopkins this week will beget new faith in Hennepin County, inspire a broader understanding of rural problems, and assure worthwhile entertainment.”
Hennepin County’s fair moved to Hopkins in 1907, bouncing around in specific location from downtown to, eventually, an indoors location at a Hennepin County Highway Department garage, also located in Hopkins – giving it the distinction of being the only Minnesota county fair to be located indoors. In 1986, the fair moved back outside, this time in Corcoran.
Click here to learn more about the Hennepin County Fair today.
Do you have a favorite county fair memory – whether in Hennepin County or somewhere else? Please share below; we’d love to hear your stories.