The Great Snohomish County Fair of 1877
A town rally for local pride and agricultural ambition, as Snohomish citizens prepare to showcase the best of the valley’s soil and handiwork.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
At a meeting held at Athenaeum Hall on August 4, 1877, with J. N. Low presiding, the Snohomish County Agricultural Society voted to hold its annual fair on October 4, 5, and 6. The Society is determined to prove that Snohomish is the banner county of the Territory. Organizers have arranged for exhibits to be delivered to the lower wharf and carried across the street to the Athenaeum Building, ensuring that fragile goods are protected from the dangers of multiple transfers. A special premium of $25 is offered for the best general display of farm products, and residents are urged to bring any sample of their toil, from winter wheat and local preserves to needlework and native ore. As the paper notes, 'One or two making an abundant display will only cause our fair to become a ridiculous failure; but if every one brings a sample of what ever he has, the result will be a splendid success of which every citizen will be proud.' The event aims to demonstrate that Snohomish possesses resources the community need not be ashamed of.
“One or two making an abundant display will only cause our fair to become a ridiculous failure; but if every one brings a sample of what ever he has, the result will be a splendid success.”
Long before Snohomish became a hub of heritage tourism, the 1877 County Fair was a gritty, grassroots attempt to define the region's economic identity. Just as modern Snohomish grapples with growth and development, the 1877 settlers felt the exact same pressure to prove their 'honor' and 'resources' to the rest of the Territory.
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