Fairground Park is a

municipal park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to re ...

that opened in 1908 in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

. It was originally a privately owned facility, first used by the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Association for the St. Louis Exposition from 1856 through 1902. However, the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government polici ...

interrupted the annual fair when the Fairgrounds were used as a Union encampment known as

Benton Barracks Benton Barracks (or Camp Benton) was a Union Army military encampment, established during the American Civil War, in St. Louis, Missouri, at the present site of the St. Louis Fairground Park. Before the Civil War, the site was owned and used b ...

.St. Louis Republic
"Fair Grounds to be Sold to Syndicate"
March 15, 1901, Front Page. Retrieved Dec. 8, 2013. The annual exposition ceased in 1902 as preparations for the

1904 World's Fair The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 milli ...

began.

History

Fair Grounds Race Track

The Fairgrounds originated in 1856 with the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechanical Association. In the early 1880s, the association fell upon hard times and was replaced with the St. Louis Fair and Jockey Club. In 1901, Cap Tilles, Sam W. Adler, and Louis A. Cella, the principal owners of Delmar Racing Track, purchased the St. Louis Fairgrounds. Since 1892, the partnership had been purchasing race tracks across the St. Louis area, with Delmar Track becoming the main competitor to the St. Louis Fair and Jockey Club. By the turn of the century, the competition won out, with Tilles becoming President of the new association. However, the revival of the Fairgrounds suffered another blow with the abolition of gambling on

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

in Missouri in June 1905. Governor Joseph W. Folk was elected in 1904, running as an anti-gambling, progressive reformer. Folk signed the Anti-Breeders Act, directly leading to the permanent closure of the St. Louis Fairground Track. Fairgrounds Park in St Louis, 1913

In 1908, after protracted political debate, the abandoned fairground was purchased from the association for park use by St. Louis for $700,000. The park was dedicated on October 9, 1909. All of the former fair structures and

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to z ...

buildings were removed except the

bear pit A bear pit was historically used to display bears, typically for entertainment and especially bear-baiting. The pit area was normally surrounded by a high fence, above which the spectators would look down on the bears. The most traditional form o ...

s of the old zoo and the

amphitheater An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

. In 1912, the amphitheater was removed and replaced by the city's first municipal swimming pool, then said to be the world's largest. It was at this pool that

Fairground Park riot The Fairground Park riot was a race riot that broke out on June 21, 1949, at a newly integrated public swimming pool.Eddie Silva, "The Longest Day", Riverfront Times, October 25, 2016, http://www.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/the-longest-day/Conten ...

occurred, which was violence against Black pool-goers that occurred in 1949 when the whites-only pool was forced to allow African-Americans. The pool was later closed rather than continue operating as an integrated facility. The original pool was replaced by a new pool in 1958 as part of the 1955 bond issue program,University of Missouri—St. Louis
"St. Louis Bond Issue 1955 Voting Totals Election of May 26, 1955 (Special Election)"
League of Women Voters Collection, Western Historic Manuscripts. Retrieved Dec. 8, 2013. which also provided lighted ball diamonds and hardsurface

tennis courts A tennis court is the venue where the sport of tennis is played. It is a firm rectangular surface with a low net stretched across the centre. The same surface can be used to play both Types of tennis match, doubles and singles matches. A variet ...

. At the corner of Grand Boulevard and

Natural Bridge Avenue Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. Although humans ar ...

, the facade of the old bear pits still stands at the park's main entrance.

Geography

Fairground Park is located in North St. Louis. It is bordered by Grand Boulevard to the east,

on the south, Fair Street to the west, and Kossuth Street to the north.

Surrounding areas

The park is surrounded by four neighborhoods. They are

Fairground Fairground most typically refers to a permanent space that hosts fairs. Fairground, Fairgrounds, Fair Ground or Fair Grounds may also refer to: Places Canada * Fairground, Ontario, a community United States * Fairground, St. Louis, a neighbo ...

to the northeast, O'Fallon to the northwest, Greater Ville to the southwest, and Vandeventer to the southeast.

References

Bibliography

External links

What Remains of Fairgrounds Park
- Fairground Park - What Remains Today {{Parks of Greater St. Louis Parks in St. Louis Culture of St. Louis Tourist attractions in St. Louis 1908 establishments in Missouri Protected areas established in 1908