Page:History of Richland County, Ohio.djvu/207

 HISTORY OF RICHLAND COUNTY

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��ness, incuiTed in the purchase of the grounds, and the losses occasioned by the depression of business during tlie war.

The successes of the last two or three years determined the feasibility of the fair. The grounds, for the fair of 1868. were too small, and a committee was appointed to purchase a new location. Several localities were otfered, ranging in price from $125 to $300 per acre. October 1, a contract was entered into, whereby Mr. E. Hade sold to the Society a fraction over twenty-four acres for $3,125.20, and Mr. A. C. Welch authorized to sell the old ground, which sale was afterward effected.

The purchase of the new grounds, and the opening of the fair of 1869, marked an era of prosperity heretofore unknown. The Society had introduced many improvements ; had built commodious halls for floral, mechanical and agi-icultural displays ; and had completed a finely graded one-half-mile track. The entire expenditures for the year were $14,169.68. The receipts from all sources were $7,396.24, leav- ing a debt of $6,773.44, which the Society con- fidently expected to wipe out the following year. It will be remembered l)y the citizens of the county who attended this fair, that Mr. 0. H. Booth wrote an excellent humorous account of its proceedings, the most complete report b}^ far of any heretofore published.

The report of 1870 was still successful. All parts of the county were well represented, and, though the weather for the most time was un- favorable, the attendance was large. A few new. halls had been erected for the further con- venience of visitors, and pipes laid from a spring of water in an adjacent hillside, which now sent its waters into the midst of the fair grounds. The supply of water, however, proved insufficient, and steps were taken to increase the volume from other sources.

The report of 1871 shows continued prosper- ity. The Holly waterworks were in course of erection in the city, which, when completed, were

��expected to convey abundance of water to the grounds. The meeting this year is declared in the Secretary's report to be the best ever held in the county.

The next year, the State Fair was held in this county. The attendance to this was very large, and caused a decline in the receipts of the county fair, held shortly afterward. The Society lost money this year, though it gained somewhat in interest caused by the State Fair that had held its meetings on the Society's grounds. The additional buildings erected for the use of the State Fair were retained for the county society. The number of members this year was 132. The report of 1873 shows a de- pression. The Secretary says : "The Society now numbers only about twenty members, which will probably be largely increased at the coming annual meeting of the Society. The State Fair having been held here for the past two years, has virtually killed the exhibitions of the county society, not enough being realized off the exhibitions of 1872 and 1873 to pay the premiums awarded. The Society has also largely involved itself through the fitting up of the grounds for the State Fair, and it will only be by careful management that the Society will come through."

That fall, the First National Bank failed. The President of the bank, Mr. W. S. Hickox, was also President of the Society. His fixilure brought the climax of difficulties on the Society, and, though a fair was held the next fall, it was evident to all, particularly to the principal members of the Society, that it must succumb to hard times, its debt and the blow it received from the failure of the bank. The grounds were sold to pay the debts ; and, at a meeting held January 2, 1875, it was,

''ResoJced. That it is the sense of this meeting that the Richland County Agricultural Society has, by reason of financial difficulties, outlived its usefulness, and it is hereby declared formally disbanded." This resolution was

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