What began in 1877 as a one day picnic for farmers, today is a week long fair, and the last existing Encampment Fair in America, with 1,000 tents set up each year for families to live in during the event. Each tent rental is passed from family to family - bequeathed in wills and designated in divorces. When the waiting list reached 500, the committee stopped taking names, as only 2-3 tents ever become available each year.
And it all began with the civil war. Here's the history behind Centre Counties Fair and Encampment:
The Grange
the Order of Patrons of Husbandry
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After the civil war, the Dept Of Agriculture commissioned Oliver Kelley to visit the southern states and collect data, with the goal of improving Southern Agricultural conditions. Poor southern farmers had born the brunt of the war, and were suspicious of northerners, but as a Mason, Kelley was able to tour the war torn countryside with southern masons as his guide. Finding the farming practices to be extremally outdated, Kelley saw the need for an organization that could help bring farmers together and educate them on new and better methods.
To meet this need, The Grange, a Fraternal Organization, was formed in 1867.
Officially named The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, it is a social organization in the United States that encourages families to band together to promote the economic and political well-being of the community and agriculture.
Grange In Session, 1873
The granges pioneered in the movement to give equal status to women.
The Grange is the oldest American agricultural advocacy group with a national scope. The organization has actively lobbied state legislatures and Congress for political goals, such as the Granger Laws to lower rates charged by railroads, and rural free mail delivery by the Post Office.
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The Grangers Pic-nik
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On February 3rd 1874, Leonard Rhone chartered the Progress Grange No 96. in Centre County.
He then invited all local granges to attend a "Granger's Pic-nik" in Leech's Woods, near Centre Hall, on September 24, 1874. He believed this day-long event would provide an opportunity for farmers throughout the county to gather together and offer some relief from the monotony of rural life. His idea was met with great enthusiasm by his fellow Grangers who turned out in large numbers, with approximately 3,000 attending that first gathering.
"The hour for dinner having arrived, the assembly broke up into scored of little parties, each one spreading its cloth upon the grass, natures table, and up on these were set all the good things that the appetite could crave. We suppose eight or ten acres of the grove were thus dotted like stars in the firmament." - The Centre Reporter
Throughout the day there were speakers from various Granges, local bands, and an old fashioned picnic dinner, followed by a parade in the afternoon. The picnic was such a success that a committee was formed to organize the annual event.
1874
In 1876, the location of the picnic was moved to the top of nearby Mt Nittany, which was considered a more central location.
Farm Machinery was first exhibited at the fair in 1877, the first year that tents were borrowed from the National Guard.
Rhone's 1873 Basket Picnic Inspired Fair
The basket picnic Leonard Rhone inspired in 1873 as a "farmer holiday" was a far cry from the Grange Encampment and Centre County Fair as it is today when several hundred county families move through the entrance gate"...
They come step truck and automobile and by foot to attend what has become the only county fair of its kind in the United States. They will come prepared to remain on the grounds until the last "faker" has packed his wares and moved on to the next fair offering. They will come with the same spirit they came with last year and the year before that and perhaps years before that.
To many old-timers, "The Picnic" as they still call it, is the years most important social event. It represents to them, as Mr Rhone intended, a farmers holiday...." Centre Daily Times 1947
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The Tents
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Encampment events started in Colonial times when there were no churches in rural areas. People would gather for an “all day preaching and eating” event during which pastors of multiple denominations would hold services.
It's believed that in 1875 or 1876, the first campers stayed all night at the picnic. Without any previous arrangement with the fair committee, four campers took tents to the picnic on top of Nittany Mountain. - Centre Daily Times, 1946
There were 28 tents at the 1877 fair. Ten years later, in 1887, Rhone borrowed 50 tents from the National Guard, so that more families could camp at the fair. The tents, 14x14, are roughly the size of a one car garage.
Each year invitations were mailed for current site holders . Tent city residents would bring in their own furniture, cooking items, beds and even porches.
1909 Tent Rental Receipt
By 1910, there were 200 tents, and many were equipped with a wooden floor, bench, table, and bunk. Several tents would share a cookstove and firewood. Small grocery stores soon opened, to provide campers with food during the event.
Stover Family at the 1927 Encampment.
Into the early 1950s, the local newspaper would print the names of all of the families expected to be camping at the Fair that year. In 1934, Oscar Stover was interviewed at the encampment, he had attended every single Grangers Picnic, including the first event.
Tenters at The Grange Encampment, 1930s?
Cooking at a tent, 1947
"In the 1960s, campers were allowed on the grounds on a first-come, first-served basis. Tuesday, before the fair began, was moving-in day for them, and I would see campers lined up on the berm of Pennsylvania Avenue through the length of the town and up the mountain early in the morning, waiting to get in to one of the 200 spaces. Tenters moved in the next day, and the lineup was repeated.
My mother worked at Luse’s IGA grocery store in Centre Hall, and she said that once, on tenters’ moving-in day, a man from out of the area stopped in, looking very concerned. He wondered if there had been a disaster, prompting a mass evacuation, since he saw furniture-laden trucks and trailers all over town. Mom said the store’s clerks all chuckled, and then explained the Grange Fair to him, and he left with a bewildered look." From Grange Fair Memories
Family inside a tent, 1947 In 1965, fair officials estimated that 2 out of 3 families brought electric refrigerators, and 9 out of 10 brought radios. As many as 1/3rd brought televisions along that year too.
1968
"Outhouses are of the non-plumbing variety; water still must be carried from faucet to tent; and storm winds have been known to blow down a block of tents"
"Tents are set up year after year on the same spot along well defined streets. Mostly, the same families occupy the same tent, on the same spot, with the same neighbors, year after year. Some tenters even complain if the tent is a few feed out of position from the place it occupied in former years. Each tent is 14x14 feet, has a wooden floor, and comes with a wooden table and bench. From there on the owner uses his imagination in furnishing it. Mostly, the furniture is used or second hand, but there are many refinements. Some campers erect elaborate porches in front, kitchen in the back. Two-thirds of the tents have electric refrigerators, haled to and from the park by the tenters, or rented from a Penns Alley man who buys up used refrigerators for that purpose. A few tenters still use ice refrigerators." - Centre Daily Times Aug 1968
Delivering Benches
1961
When Tent Secretary Darlene Confer was interviewed in 1997, She said “Some bequeath their annual $120 tent reservations in wills. ” Confer also added that she has had to testify as couples fought over the tents in divorce settlements.
Edna Rockey (age 70 in 2014) met her husband because his family had the tent next to theirs.
Today, there are 1,000 tents, and an additional 1,500 campers and RVs at the annual event.
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The Fair
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In 1887 the picnic expanded to a 3 day event, with exhibits, and some people staying overnight.
In 1888, it's estimated that 10,000 attended the event. The location had moved to Old Fort Woods, which was more convenient for those traveling by railroad. Only a small number of those attending stayed over in tents, but it had become obvious that a more permanent location was needed.
In 1890, 26.5 acres west of Centre Hall were purchased, and the fairground was moved to that location. A series of rainstorms turned the newly cleared fairground into mud, and many tents collapsed. Still, event goers showed up, sticking mostly to a 5 acre section covered in canvas and roofs.
Years later macadam floors and walkways were placed around the grounds, but in the early years, there was often a lot of mud. "Mud! We used to have mud and we really knew it! You couldn’t come to the Fair without a pair of arctics for wading in the mud!"
D.C. Keller's Boarding House
1887
Also in 1890, a permanent committee was created to oversee the fair. The committee was responsible for scheduling improvements and additions, including road and fence construction, tent placement, and new buildings. By 1914, county granges could appoint a member to the fair committee.
Admission to the event was free. Meals were cooked on communal wood cookstoves, supplied by the fair committee. Coal oil lamps illuminated the tents, and torches lines the grounds.
The Slaters Comedians were the entertainment in 1906. "On account of the troop coming from quite a distance and all being pretty well worn out, they gave but a fair show." - 1906
September 1906 Grange Encampment & Fair
"One of the prettiest exhibitions on the fair grounds is a column 30 feet high made of grain, vegetables, and fruit. This artistic piece of work was done by Mr. Gotlieb Strowmeyer assisted by William Shoop..."
The 1911 Monument
(If you compare the base of this monument with the one above, they are definitely from different years)
Washington Grange "who meets at the hall 2 miles west of State College" won best performance at the 1926 Encampment.
"Oh, it used to be much nicer … each Grange used to put on a play; a three act play … some nights they’d have three of them, and they were wonderful good. And you didn’t have to pay or anything to get in. It was really a Grange Fair!" - Cora Weaver, born in 1902
Oysters! Erdly’s Restaurant, 1910
The Centre Reporter Grange Encampment and Fair, Centre Hall, Pa.
Three permanent buildings and several tents in background Printed after 1910.
1914
Note - the Centre County Fair was separate from the Grange Fair. It was held in Bellefonte. After it ceased to exist (sometime after 1914) the Grange Encampment added the title of Centre County Fair.
The first amusement ride — the Wave — was introduced in 1915
1914
Up to the time of his death in 1917, Leonard Rhone served as the chairman and prime promoter of the (Granger's) picnic.
Tractors on Display at the Fair
Although most of Centre Hall did not receive electricity until the 1930s Rural Electrification Act, the fair was equipped with electricity as early as 1916. The midway and main streets of the park were illuminated with 75 watt bulbs powered by a 12kw transformer. Most tents continued to rely on kerosene lamps, but eventually, campers could rent a light bulb for a dollar.
Aerial View from the 1920s
In 1923, the park expanded again, with the purchase of an additional 45 acres.
In 1926, The Junior Farmers Building was completed. It had a dining room, and dormitory style sleeping quarters.
Public telephones were added to the fairgrounds in 1928.
Exhibit at the fair 1934
Bellefonte Vs Howard, Baseball at the Grange Encampment, 1934
Edyth Bierly Kreamer, Cleora Hackman Breon and Betty Smith Zeiders at the Grange Fair in the town of Centre Hall, Centre County in 1940.
Due to gas rationing during WWII, the fair was cancelled in 1943. That year the event returned to its origins, holding a one day picnic instead.
The De Laval Cream Separators Exhibit at the Grange Encampment and Fair
1944
Originally a free event, as it progressed in size and popularity, the committee rules an admission fee of 25 cents. "For many years after the new policy was inaugurated dozens of avid picnic-goers refused to pay the admission fee, and according to some of the older inhabitants, chose to enter the grounds by climbing a five foot wire enclosure."
"The admission fee has been raised from time to time until this year, it has reached an all time high of $1 a person for the entire week" - Centre Daily Times, 1947
Another view of the soft serve stand
Agues Frozen Products at the Grange Fair
Bald Eagle High School Band playing for a crowd at the Centre Hall Grange Encampment and Fair at Centre Hall, Centre County.
Port Matilda 4-H Club in the parade at the Centre Hall Fair
For decades, a chain link fence formed the southern boundary of the fairgrounds, beside the feed mill on Hoffer Avenue. Jack Garbrick used to take people on airplane rides during the fair, taking off and landing on the fields on the other side of the fence. Customers paid their fee, then used a large stepladder to climb over the fence to board the plane.
Two Ferris Wheels, side by side
1959
1953 Fire
Livestock Judging at The Grange Fair
Tractors on Display at the Grange Encampment & Fair
Gate #2 at the Grange Encampment and Fair was originally built for horse drawn vehicles. In 1957, this new entrance gate was built.
Craig Harper of Bellefonte and Sandra Dills of Lemont were crowned Baby King & Queen of the 1962 Fair
Fay Rearick at the Centre County Fair
Life Magazine Vol. 63, No. 15
Oct 13, 1967
"Parents don't have to worry about letting their children run at large. The whole park is fenced in, and parents are urged to fasten identification tags on the children so if they get lost they can be quickly returned." - Centre Daily Times, Aug 1968
The 100-acre Ilgen farm was purchased in 1984, nearly doubling the size of the fairgrounds. An outdoor horse arena, tractor pull area, and the Homan Lane Gate off rt 54, was constructed,
In 2011, a 150-foot by 300-foot covered horse arena was built on the grounds.
In 1990, Garth Brooks, on his way to becoming a top act in country and pop music, performed at the Grange fair
The fair was cancelled in 2020, for the pandemic.
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READ MORE
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- https://grangefair.com/
- Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair: "A History of Master Rhone's Pic-nic by Norman Lathbury https://amzn.to/3s3wfFg
- Grange Fair, The: An American Tradition DVD
- Brenckman, Fred. History of the Pennsylvania State Grange. Harrisburg, PA: n.p., 1949. 221-27.
- Dullea, Georgia. “Same Tent, Same Joy, Every Year.” The New York Times 1 September 1994. 9 February 2014.
- Gibb, Tom. “Tenting grange fair vestige of 19th century.” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette 31 Aug. 1997, two star ed.: B5.
- Grange Fair tent grounds. Penn State Historic Photo Archive, University Park, PA. Web. 9 Feb. 2014.
- Harding, Maggie. Personal interview. 20 Feb. 2014.
- Horning, Ed. Telephone interview. 15 Feb. 2014.
- Lathbury, Norman K. Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair. Centre Hall, PA: Centre Publications Inc, 1999.
- Myers, Joe, dir. The Grange Fair: An American Tradition. Penn State Public Broadcasting, 2005. DVD-ROM.
- “Participants and exhibitors handbook.” The Grange Fair. N.p., 2012. Web. 10 Feb. 2014.
- Puente, Maria. “The Grange Fair: Making a pitch for Americana where ‘tenting’ is family tradition.” USA Today 26 Aug. 1996: 14A.
- Stezman, M. R. The Grange Fair: a study in audience. Schreyer Honor’s Thesis, Pennsylvania State University, 2005.
1934
His memory keen, his eyes clear, Oscar W stover, 78 of State
College, well remembers the first grangers picnic forerunner of the present
Grange encampment in center County Fair which is now celebrating its 61st
anniversary.
Mr. stover proudly holds the record of being present at
every one of the 61 annual grange get togethers, and while seated in his
tent at the 61st annual encampment yesterday vividly recalled the first g Grangers
picnic held in Leeches woods in upper penns valley.
He attended
the first Grange meeting held in Penn’s Valley, which met in the Earlystown
schoolhouse near Centre Hall. Although but 14 years old at the time, Mr. Stover
well remembers that first meeting, which was under the leadership of the Honorable
Leonard Rhone, and even recalls the names of many of the men present at that
meeting.
Some of the men who were there at that first meeting,
according to Mr. Stover, were David Rhinesmith, Daniel Stover, George, William
and James Boal, James Alexander, Lafayette Neff, Henry Smith and Will Stover.
All of these men are now deceased he said.
Tents were not in order at that first grangers picnic, but
before very many years had passed, after the picnic was moved to the top of
Nittany mountain, Mr. Durst began a long series of annual encampments at the
grangers picnic, later known as the Grange encampment and center County Fair,
and this series has been unbroken.
Mr. stover once helped to harvest wheat on what is now the
tree covered Grange park, and he was one of the first to help plant trees in
the park, the first year after the picnic was moved to the present site
Mr. stover feels that the present Grange encampment and fair
is just a little better than the year previous, and that this has been the case
with every grange fair that each year is marked with some improvement. He added
that he believed that there would continue to be improvements made in the
program for fair week.
Another old resident or at Grange fair is
AP Smeltzer of pleasant gap who this year is attending his 60th Grange fair. He
was but one year old however, when present at his first grangers picnic.
Some three years ago,
Mr. smeltzer, suffering with a broken leg, decided not to attend Grange fair,
but at the last minute decided that he did not want to break his long record of
attendance, so he was present, viewing the festivities from a wheel chair.
Mr. Smeltzer told the centre Daily Times yesterday that he felt that
this year's fair would be considerably ahead of the standard for last year. He
commented on the extensiveness of the machinery exhibits, and also said that
the other exhibits were greater than ever before.
Whether or not there
are present on the fairgrounds today any others who are present at every Grange
fair was not learned by the center Daily Times, but both Mr. Stover and mr
smeltzer expressed the desire to know if
there were.
1874
1946
1947
Grange Encampment & Fair
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