Written By Harold Carruthers and Natasha Kalita
A new commemorative book, The History of the Glencoe Fair, 1848–2026, brings together 178 years of agricultural, social and community history, preserving the remarkable story of a tradition that has been part of life in Glencoe and the surrounding district for generations.
The book is based on more than 50 years of research by local historian Harold J. Carruthers, who collected newspaper articles, photographs, agricultural records, township documents, census information, assessment rolls and countless pieces of local history. Together, they tell a story that begins long before the fair reached its familiar home in Glencoe.
The roots of the Glencoe Fair can be traced to 1848, when an agricultural show was held at Strathburn in Mosa Township. Farmers brought livestock, grain, fruit and domestic goods to exhibit and compare. These early fairs were practical as well as social, giving neighbours an opportunity to learn from one another, celebrate successful crops and livestock, and take pride in the growing community.
Over the following decades, agricultural fairs were held at locations throughout Mosa, Ekfrid and Glencoe. Eventually these separate traditions came together, creating the Glencoe Fair that generations of families would come to know.
Throughout the book, readers can follow the changing fairgrounds and the people who built them. Historic photographs and newspaper clippings help tell the stories of the Crystal Palaces, livestock buildings, grandstands, horse-racing track and Driving Park. The fairgrounds grew from a place used primarily for agricultural exhibitions into one of Glencoe’s most important gathering places.
Some chapters will bring back especially vivid memories for longtime residents. Horse racing was once one of the fair’s greatest attractions. The Glencoe Tractor Pull, beginning in 1970, later became another major local tradition. The Fair Pavilion hosted enormously popular teen dances, sometimes drawing more than 600 young people to hear bands including The Stampeders, Major Hoople’s Boarding House and Grant Smith and The Power.
The book also preserves the history of the Fair Queen program, established in 1967, and its evolution into the Fair Ambassador program in 1998, celebrating generations of young people who represented the fair and their community.
Beyond fair week, the grounds themselves became increasingly important to everyday community life. Over the years, the area grew to include recreation facilities such as the arena, curling rink, swimming pool, ball diamonds, soccer fields, skatepark and the later Project 2000 development.
Above all, The History of the Glencoe Fair, 1848–2026 is a tribute to the hundreds of volunteers, farmers, exhibitors, families, businesses, service clubs and Agricultural Society members who kept the tradition alive.
It is more than the history of a fair. It is the story of a community—178 years of people gathering, competing, volunteering, celebrating and building something that each generation could pass on to the next.
