Good news! For 2018, we upgraded our geotrail to an official Geocaching GeoTour! Learn more about Pennsylvania's Clearfield County GeoTour, which offers a series of 5 related geocaching adventures: Forgotten Clearfield, Hometown Heroes, Waterways, Cemeteries, and Parks and Recreation. Codes are hidden within each cache. Collect 25 codes from across all 5 series and you qualify for a collectible prize. If you complete all 5 and have your passport validated, you can receive a trackable geocoin.
This cache is on the Clearfield County Fairgrounds. It is availble to find for free year round with the exception of the week of the fair. During this week you will need to pay an entrance fee and a parking fee.
Clearfield County is full of old and historical locations, buildings, and remnants of by gone eras. Come and cache Clearfield County to learn about it's rich history through ghost towns, abandoned cemeteries Civil War uprising and it's rich Native American presence.
What was originally called the Clearfield County Fair and Industrial Exhibition began with the organization of the Clearfield County Agricultural Society in 1852. After Clearfield and neghboring Curwensville held a contest to determine who would host the Fair, plans materialized in October of 1860. Clearfield won by raising more subscription money. Clearfield has been the site ever since, except in 1895 and 1896, when Grampian was used so that a track would be available for harness racing. In the early 1900's the Fair was held irregularly, however in 1925 two permanent buildings, the grandstand and the exposition hall were erected.
The 1930's brought some problems and some lasting changes. The 1934 four day Fair endured the crash of the stock market, but the 1935 Fair was suspended, due to economic conditions. Then, in 1937, the James E. Strates Shows made their first of thirty some appearances on the midway. It started a tradition for many years to watch them load the show back on the train in downtown Clearfield after the Fair was over. In 1938, at the request of the Agricultural Society, the Clearfield Volunteer Fire Department took over management of the Fair. In 1938, the Fair lasted a full week and the first fireman's parade passed in front of the grandstand. The Fair was held the fifth full week before Labor Day and has been held the same week ever since.
In 1944 and 1945, there were no fairs due to WWII. 170 members from the four borough fire companies marched off to war. Five of them were killed. The following year the Fair returned.
The Fair Board, established in 1942, had their first chance to operate the fair in 1946. Orgianally, the ownership of the fair grounds belonged to the bondholders, most of whom turned their bonds over to the firemen as a donation to see the Fair continue. The Grandstand Company owned the grandstand. Then later, the Clearfield Borough Park Authority paid off the remainer of the outstanding bonds.
In the late 1970's the Fair Board entered a lease agreement with Clearfield Borough to take over the management of the fair grounds and buildings. Since then the Fair Board put over one million dollars in renovations and improvements into the fair grounds, also known as the Clearfield Driving Park.
In the 1980's the Fair Board purchased the old Silkmill property as a great addition to the fair grounds. It is now known as the Expo II building.
For many years the Clearfield County Fair has been the only place in central Pennyslvania to see great entertainers perform in front of the grandstand from Bob Hope to Garth Brooks and continues to bring big name entertainers.
