Fair timeline

1855 - Missouri Legislature created South East Agriculture Society, appropriating $3,000 for the project. It was made up of all the counties in the congressional district. Cape Girardeau was chosen as the location for the fair, which was small that first year. President of the fair was Gen. Nathaniel Watkins.

1855 - First fair held in a woods east of Pacific and south of Good Hope streets. One of most popular features was horse racing. There was no track then. Horses were lined up and raced across a field.

1861-1864 - Fairgrounds were taken over by Union troops, who destroyed all the buildings on the grounds.

1870 - Missouri Legislature passed a resolution reviving the 23-county Southeast Missouri District Agricultural Society. A new fairground was purchased, 50 acres on the city's far western edge bounded on the east by Highway 61 and on the north by Gordonville Road.

1871 - Fair held on a 150-acre tract south of Gordonville Road and west of Highway 61. (Another 100 acres of land were added to the site in 1871.) A tier of seats had been erected for viewing activities. A ball, sponsored by the fair board, was to be held at the St. Charles Hotel.

1895 -- The attendance at the Fair showed that September is not the month for holding the annual fair.

1896 -- The 31st annual fair of the Southeastern District Agricultural Society held here last week (in October) was the deemed to be the best fair for more than 10 years.

1897 - Fair association went bankrupt. Fairgrounds sold to the Blattner family and converted into a farm.

1900 - New Fair Association formed in conjunction with the City Park Association. They incorporated and sold $16,500 of stock in the sale. The Fair Association bought 40 acres of land west of the city (Broadway and West End) from Col. Robert Sturdivant for $2,000, which later became Capaha Park.

1904 - A popular show at the fair was Nebraska Bill's Wild West and Trained Bronco show that featured Nebraska Bill's marksmanship. Bill's feat of tossing glass balls into the air and plugging them with a rifle seemingly without aiming was undone one day when his gun discharged accidentally spraying three men and a horse with birdshot.

1905 -- Louis Houck files injunction to restrain liquor sales at fair.

1906 - William Jennings Bryan campaigns for president of the U.S. at the fair.

1911 -- Fairgoers got their first look at an airplane.

1929 -- Reeling from World War I and with the onset of the Great Depression, Cape County Fair & Park Association, begun in 1855, comes to end.

Fair is discontinued.

1937 -- Special bond election, $55,000 to buy new fairgrounds, carries, 1,515-384. Fair association, city park board and the county court jointly purchased 47.5 acres of land, which became Arena Park.

1937 -- WPA force begins work at Arena Park.

1940 -- Arena Building completed in January, and fair was revived in September.

1947 - Rolla Singleton, secretary of the Missouri Association of Fairs, spoke at the fair board's annual dinner meeting and said, "You people here are wondering how you can make your fair a greater success, and I want to tell you know that you are way ahead of the field."

1954 - Country singer Webb Pierce and his "Wandering Boys" performs Wednesday, Sept. 15.

1955 - Grand Ol'Opry comedian Cousin Minnie Pearl shouted out her famous How-DEE from the grandstand and left everyone laughing.

1965 - Porter Wagoner, not yet famous for his duets with Dolly Parton, sang his country songs at the fair.

1969 - Bluegrass dominated the entertainment offerings at the fair.

1976 - Mel Tillis sings on Friday, Sept. 17, followed by a program on Saturday by Brenda Lee.

1981 - Country music legends Johnny Cash and his wife June Carter Cash were big-ticket draws for the fair.

1984 - 4-H Livestock shelter built.

1992 - First Lady Barbara Bush visits the fair, talks with senior citizens, campaigns for her husband.

2001 - Charlie Pride, known for "Kiss an Angel Good Morning" was the headline entertainment.

2005 - Country star Randy Travis headlines the entertainment at the fair's 150th anniversary.