History of the Menard County Fair
1839 During the session of the Legislature in 1839 Menard County was stricken off from Sangamon County and named in honor of Col. Pierre Menard, a Frenchman, who settled at Kaskaskia in 1790. In his day, Col. Menard was so popular with the people of Illinois that when the Convention framed the Constitution of the State, a clause was included in the schedule to the Constitution providing that "any citizen of the United States, who had resided in the State for two years might be eligible to the office of Lieutenant Governor." This was done in order that Col. Menard, who had only been naturalized a year or two at the time, might be made Lieutenant Governor under Shadrach Bond, first Governor of Illinois, after its formation into a State.
As Menard County was named after this popular Frenchman, it may be interesting to the reader to give a brief account of his life. Pierre Menard was born in Quebec in the year 1767. He remained in his native city till in his nineteenth year, when his native spirit of adventure led him to seek his fortunes in the Territories watered by the Mississippi and its tributaries. He was soon found in the town of Vincennes, on the Wabash River, in the employ of a merchant, one Col. Vigo. In the year 1790, he formed a partnership with a merchant named Du Bois and they removed their stock to Kaskaskia, Illinois. Menard, though possessed of but a limited education, was a man of quick perception and of almost unerring judgment. He was candid and honest, full of energy and industry, and these qualities soon marked him as a leader among the scattered population of his adopted home. For a number of years, he was Government Agent for the Indians, and his candor and integrity soon won for him the esteem and friendship of the Indian tribes. This fact secured him great advantage as a merchant, as he could buy their peltries for half price. He was a member of the Lower House of the Legislature while Illinois was under the Indiana regime, and, from 1812 to 1818, he was a member of the Illinois Legislative Council, being the President of that body. He was Lieutenant Governor from 1818 to 1822, and after that he declined to accept further honors at the hands of the people. He acquired a considerable fortune, but much of it was lost through his liberality in going security for his friends. He died at the good old age of seventy-seven years, in Tazewell County. Such was the man for whom the county of Menard was named.
~ from The History of Menard and Mason Counties, published 1879
1855 The Menard County Agricultural Society first started the Menard County Fair in 1855 on land bordering the Sangamon River owned by Dr. FP Antle. While the first two exhibitions were held there, the third was then moved to other property owned by Dr. Antle, north of his residence. Later the society purchased some ground in what was known as Hemp Hollow, which runs east and west and is just south of Washington St in Petersburg. The fairs were held on that location until the outbreak of the Civil War, when the society closed the fairs.
1869-1870 In 1869, the president and director of the Menard County Agricultural Society petitioned the county commissioners with 730 signatures to use county funds to purchase a tract of land adjacent to Petersburg for county fair purposes. In July 1869, the Menard County Commissioners entered into an agreement with Henry and Margaret Schirding to purchase 20 acres of land just north of Petersburg. By March 1870 the fairgrounds were leased to the Menard County Agricultural Society.
1879 Importations of blooded animals from the progressive countries of Europe are destined to greatly improve the quality of our beef and mutton. Nowhere is there to be seen a more enticing display in this line than at our state and county fairs, and the interest in the matter is on the increase. ~ from The History of Menard and Mason Counties, published 1879
1886 One community in the United States remembered the "ninety-ninth anniversary of the adoption of the constitution," and celebrated it in 1886. That place was Petersburg, the successor of New Salem. The scene of the celebration was the Menard County Fair Grounds, in the midst of fine Illinois farms, some of the lines of which were run by the Great Liberator fifty years before, when he changed his vocation from that of grocery clerk to country surveyor. ~ from A reporter's Lincoln By Walter Barlow Stevens, Michael Burlingame, published by the Missouri Historical Society 1916
1887 In 1887 the president of the Agricultural Society petitioned the commisioners with 424 signatures to purchase five more acres of land abutting the present fairgrounds on the south side owned by David Morris, and two more acres south to the county road owned by William Gum, for the purpose of enlarging the fairgrounds. Over the next several years improvements were made to buildings, roadways and fences. By 1890 the fair saw the installation of 200 stalls and by 1894 a 10 x 50 ampitheater was constructed.
1947 During the latter half of 1947 the organization began to feel a financial burden. A resolution for a .5% tax failed at a special election on November 4, 1947. Later that month the Menard County Farm Bureau made an offer to the County Board to purchase the property, including the buildings, for $200 per acre. After much consideration and the opinion of the state's attorney, the board unanimously voted not to sell the fairgrounds. The tax resolution failed again in November 1948.
However, in September of 1949 one hundred taxpayers requested the submission of a proposition for an annual tax not to exceed .2% of the full cash value of all taxable property for the purpose of creating a fund for County fair purposes. The resolution on November 8, 1949 finally passed.
1951 On March 8, 1951 the Menard County Fair filed articles of incorporation under the general Not-For-Profit Corporation Act, but a lease between the County and the Fair Board was not drawn up and signed until February 26, 1963.
2007 Menard County can cherish a county fair that has lasted more than 150 years. It is one of the longest running traditions Menard County has ever seen, and hopefully will last another 150 years.
2010 Miss Menard County Fair 2009, Haley Freeman of Athens, was crowned the 2010 Miss Illinois County Fair Queen during the 51st Illinois County Fair Queen Pageant at the Crown Plaza in Springfield, IL.