The Merced County Fairgrounds are home to the annual Merced County Fair, the

county fair An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which breeding stock is exhibit ...

Merced County, California Merced County ( ), is a county located in the northern San Joaquin Valley section of the Central Valley, in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 281,202. The county seat is Merced. The county is named after ...

. The Merced County Fair was first held on September 2, 1891. The first fair was held on 18th Street in

Merced Merced (; Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on April 1 ...

and was a joint county fair with neighboring

Mariposa County Mariposa County () is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 17,131. The county seat is Mariposa. It is located in the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains, north of Fresno, east of ...

. The Merced County Fair showcases

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...

, exhibits, carnival rides, music and fair food each year.

History

Merced County has held a county fair since 1891, except during 1917 and 1918 (

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

), 1936 (financial issues), 1943 to 1945 (

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

), and 2020 and 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. The first solo Merced County Fair was held on September 14–15, 1929 at the Applegate Park Municipal Baseball Park. Early fairs hosted a rodeo and

4-H 4-H is a U.S.-based network of youth organizations whose mission is "engaging youth to reach their fullest potential while advancing the field of youth development". Its name is a reference to the occurrence of the initial letter H four times i ...

youth organization livestock shows. In 1931, the fair moved to its current site at 11th and G streets, now 900 Martin Luther King Jr. Way. In 1937, a parade and a three-day horse racing meeting was added to the fair. The fair closed in 1943 and did not open again till 1946 due to World War II. From 1946 to 2019 & since 2022, the fair has been run by the

California Department of Food and Agriculture The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is a cabinet-level agency in the government of California. Established in 1919 by the California State Legislature and signed into law by Governor William Stephens, the Department of Food ...

's 35th District Agricultural Association. The fairgrounds have been used year-round to support other community activities. On the fairgrounds have been the county library branch, a

fire station __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equipment, fire ...

, a school for the mentally handicapped, a preschool program,

Merced College Merced College is a public community college in Merced, California. History In 1961, the Merced High and Le Grand High School Districts petitioned the State Board of Education for permission to set an election to approve the establishment of a ...

, the J. Emmett McNamara Memorial Museum, and Leontine Gracey Elementary School. The fairgrounds are also rented out during the year. In 2020, the fair was scheduled for June 10–14, but was cancelled by the fair board due to "COVID-19 public health concerns." The 2021 fair, the 130th, was set for June 9–13, but it was again cancelled by the fair Board of Directors and CEO on March 8, 2021. Reasons given were the ongoing uncertainty of COVID-19 and restrictions on large public events. In 2021, the local economic benefit lost to the cancellation of the fair was around US$23 million.

The 130th fair finally resumed in 2022, from 8–12 June, following a pandemic-based hiatus.

Merced Fairgrounds Speedway

Chris Windom USAC Midget Angell Park July 2014

When the fair is not meeting the race track is used for the Merced Fairgrounds Speedway. The speedway is a 0.375-mile

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and ...

dirt track that hosts race car,

midget car Midget cars, also speedcars in Australia, is a class of racing cars. The cars are very small with a very high power-to-weight ratio and typically use four cylinder engines. They originated in the United States in the 1930s and are raced on m ...

and

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

racing. Chris Windom won the 2020 National Midget Car Championship at the Merced Fairgrounds Speedway.

Camp Merced

After the surprise Japanese

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

on December 7, 1941, the Merced County Fairgrounds was turned into the

Merced Assembly Center The Merced Assembly Center was one of sixteen temporary assembly centers hastily constructed in the wake of Executive Order 9066 to incarcerate those of Japanese ancestry beginning in the spring of 1942, following the attack on Pearl Harbor and prio ...

, a detention center for those of Japanese ancestry. The center opened on May 6, 1942 and closed on September 15, 1942. Most of those detained were transferred to a permanent camp,

Granada War Relocation Center The Amache National Historic Site, formally the Granada War Relocation Center but known to the internees as Camp Amache, was a concentration camp for Japanese Americans in Prowers County, Colorado. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor o ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

. President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

authorized the forced relocation of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast with Executive Order 9066 over the fear of more attacks. Notable people held at the Merced Assembly Center included artist

Emiko Nakano Emiko Nakano (1925–1990) was an American Abstract expressionism, abstract expressionist painter, printmaker, fiber artist, and fashion Illustrator. Biography Emiko Nakano was born on July 4, 1925 in Sacramento, California; her parents were im ...

. The former Merced Assembly Center is a

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meeting at least one of ...

, number 934.02.Air Force bases,by Robert Mueller, 1982, Page 398 After the Assembly Center closed, the fairgrounds were turned over to the 4th Air Service Area Command for supplies and training until 1945; during this time it was known as Camp Merced. For three years Camp Merced was used as the headquarters for and to support the

Merced Army Air Field Merced (; Spanish for "Mercy") is a city in, and the county seat of, Merced County, California, United States, in the San Joaquin Valley. As of the 2020 Census, the city had a population of 86,333, up from 78,958 in 2010. Incorporated on April 1 ...

and its auxiliary fields that were used for training new pilots needed for World War II. The 802nd Chemical Company and 1914th Ordnance Ammunition Company, Aviation were also trained at Camp Merced before deployment to the Pacific war.

References

{{Japanese American internment camps

External links

Mercedian Collection
available a

Fairs in California Annual fairs Annual events in California Merced County Fairgrounds

History

Merced Fairgrounds Speedway

Camp Merced

See also

References

External links