By DOUG GRAVES
Ohio Correspondent

DAYTON, Ohio — Nothing stays the same. Time always changes things. Out with the old and in with the new.

These clichés apply to many places and things, but not the Montgomery County Fairgrounds. Time seems to stand still at this spot just south of downtown Dayton.

While many fairs throughout Ohio boast of their new facilities, board members of this fair are proud to keep things as they were more than 100 years ago.

“The grandstand we now have has stood since 1900,” said Harold Crowe, who was the Montgomery County Fair’s director for 53 years and fair board president for 23 years. “We recently had the grandstand checked and it’s still a highly stable structure. We have a hog barn that was erected in 1936 under the Works Progress Administration (WPA). But our pride and joy is the roundhouse, which was build in 1874.”

Turn in any direction and a reminder of the past is in sight. To the south is the long row of horse stables. Locals call it “shed row.” It, too, was a WPA project. The shed row is the same one people stood on in 1908 to catch a glimpse of Orville and Wilbur Wright when they displayed their fixed-wing aircraft. An estimated 75,000 gathered for that occasion.

To the north is the roundhouse, which was built at a cost of $3,400. It is the largest and one of only two roundhouses at fairgrounds in Ohio and was first used as an exposition hall for animals. Its tan bark floor has given way to concrete, but the wooden flooring still exists on its second floor. Today it houses the fair’s fine arts exhibits.

The first grandstand to the east of the grounds was constructed in 1874. It was better known for attracting top Standardbreds and a multitude of races. Horse racing was a big draw at this fair, and a $1,000 purse was established for the fastest mare or gelding at each fair.

In the 1870s an estimated 75,000 fans watched the world’s fastest racehorse at that time, Goldsmith Maid, set a new world trotting record of 2:18 for the mile. A fire destroyed the structure, forcing the building of a new one in 1900. When the seats needed repaired or replaced, fair board members opted to use 1,200 chairs from old Crosley Field, one-time home to the Cincinnati Reds. Those chairs are still in place.

“After 1900 the only damage to any structure occurred when the winds from Hurricane Ike in 2008 ripped a few panels from atop the roof of the roundhouse,” Crowe said. “But we nailed those back in.”

The first Montgomery County Fair had a modest beginning on Oct. 17, 1839, at Swaynie’s Hotel barnyard near a canal basin, not far from its present-day location. In 1853 Dayton was awarded the first Ohio State Fair, held at the grounds currently occupied by the Montgomery County Fairgrounds.

The initial Southern Ohio Fair was held here in 1874. By this time, the Ohio State Fair was moved to Columbus. These fairgrounds were host to the Dayton Baseball Club (1892), Dayton Bicycle Club races and was once, the Dayton Trotting and Pacing Assoc.

The Coliseum was built in 1922 and was also used for agricultural purposes. But it became home to the University of Dayton men’s basketball team the following year. The school eventually built its own arena in 1950, leaving the fairgrounds.

The Coliseum was also home to Golden Gloves boxing, a multitude of high school basketball games, championship rodeos, horse shows and the Dayton Kennel Club. These groups shared use of the Coliseum, as it still remained property of the Montgomery County Fair. Today the Coliseum houses the horticulture exhibits at each fair.

In the 1850s the Montgomery County Fair was located four miles south of downtown Dayton. Today, urban sprawl has surrounded the fairgrounds on all sides. In fact, for the past five years the Miami Valley Hospital (adjacent to the east of the fairgrounds) has tried repeatedly to purchase some land from fair board authorities, for much-needed parking space. Fair officials have refused every time.