The Du Quoin State Fairgrounds are located in the city of Du Quoin in

Perry County, Illinois Perry County is a county in Illinois. According to the 2020 census, it had a population of 20,945. Its county seat is Pinckneyville. It is located in the southern portion of Illinois known as " Little Egypt". History Perry County was formed ...

, United States. The fairgrounds are located along

U.S. Route 51 U.S. Route 51 or U.S. Highway 51 (US 51) is a major south–north United States highway that extends from the western suburbs of New Orleans, Louisiana, to within of the Wisconsin–Michigan state line. As most of the United States Numbered Hi ...

north of

Illinois Route 14 Illinois Route 14 (IL 14) is a major east–west highway in southern Illinois. It runs from U.S. Route 51 south of Du Quoin to the New Harmony Toll Bridge over the Wabash River to State Road 66 at the Indiana state line. This is a distan ...

. The facilities include the

DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack DuQuoin State Fairgrounds Racetrack is a one-mile (1.6-km) clay oval motor racetrack in Du Quoin, Illinois, about southeast of St Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independe ...

, an oval track that has hosted AAA, USAC and ARCA races since 1948. The fairgrounds are also home to a

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, 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 bas ...

track which hosted the

Hambletonian Stakes The Hambletonian Stakes is a major American harness race for three-year-old trotting horses, named in honor of Hambletonian 10, a foundation sire of the Standardbred horse breed, also known as the "Father of the American Trotter." The fir ...

from 1957 to 1980 and the World Trotting Derby from 1981 to 2009. The Du Quoin State Fairgrounds opened in 1923 under the leadership of horse breeder William R. Hayes. Hayes created the DuQuoin State Fair as a parallel event to the

Illinois State Fair The Illinois State Fair is an annual festival, centering on the theme of agriculture, hosted by the U.S. state of Illinois in the state capital, Springfield, Illinois, Springfield. The state fair has been celebrated almost every year since 18 ...

, which had banned gambling on horse races. To avoid competing for visitors, the Du Quoin State Fair began immediately after the Illinois State Fair closed; the Du Quoin fair traditionally ran through

Labor Day Labor Day is a Federal holidays in the United States, federal holiday in the United States celebrated on the first Monday of September to honor and recognize the Labor history of the United States, American labor movement and the works and con ...

weekend. The event was a financial success which attracted prominent entertainers and groups, many of whom also played the Illinois State Fair; the fair consequently became known as Illinois' "little State Fair" or "second State Fair". Du Quoin State Fairgrounds has been listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

since July 1990. It is one of Perry County's two Registered Historic Places; the other, in Pinckneyville, is the Perry County Jail, now a museum.

References

External links

Du Quoin State Fair
{{POWRi National Midgets race venues Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois Buildings and structures in Perry County, Illinois Fairgrounds in the United States Tourist attractions in Perry County, Illinois National Register of Historic Places in Perry County, Illinois Event venues on the National Register of Historic Places in Illinois