By KAREN BINDER
Illinois Correspondent Du QUOIN, Ill. — Knowing who William R. Hayes was explains why Illinois has two state fairs.
While the one kicking off Aug. 8-17 in Springfield is the official and first state fair, there’s a much smaller version located about three hours south of there in Du Quoin in Perry County.
It was here in 1923 that Hayes bought an old coal strip mine next to his 30-acre tract and began building a fairgrounds that will thrive again Aug. 23 to Sept. 1 this year.
“The fact is Mr. Hayes labeled the fair with ‘to have the quality and reputation of the Illinois State Fair.’ It was a self-named state fair. The state never entered the picture until 1985,” explained Fred Huff, a former fair manager and a local historian who continues to work for the fair.
What Hayes created was a park-like setting that boasted planting of 1,400 trees, a grandstand, barns (the first one is still standing and in use) and a horse track. The result is what some 300,000 people are expected to enjoy this year at the 1,200-acre fair complex with a 18,000-seat grandstand, a track to host horses, race cars and motorcycles, 12 lakes and 30 miles of black-topped roads.
In the center of the grounds is the Hayes Mansion, a white-columned house behind a wrought-iron fence that the governor and other dignitaries use while visiting the fair.
Notable events in the fair’s past include the Hambletonian harness race, a renowned event that has since moved to New York. The fair now runs the World Trotting Derby, complete with pari-mutuel betting in the grandstand.
Speaking of the grandstand, Huff has a unique memory of the fair’s first grandstand, which he remembers as a wooden structure capable of seating only 3,000 people. It was the summer of 1945 and Huff was a 16-year-old sports reporter when the grandstand caught fire. He was the only reporter in town at the time.
“So here’s this 16 year old who writes only about high school basketball and who’s never written a news story and now has to cover probably the biggest story in Du Quoin for the year,” Huff said.
Although he got the story, the fire was opportune for the fair. The original grandstand stood just within the fence near the entrance, not the best location for a crowd or expansion. It was moved to its current location toward the back of the fairgrounds.
A half-mile horse trotting practice track was built in the old grandstand footprint and continues to be used today, with the addition of VIPs using the track’s center as a helicopter pad.
Hayes was known as an adept businessman and attracted investors to help build the fair with all the amenities. The fair’s website reported, “he foresaw the event as a prestigious, statewide attraction that ‘would be improved yearly as long as the fair exists.’”
The early fairs featured harness racing and auto racing to a dog show, an auto show and even a “flapper” fashion show. There also was a flying circus with stunt pilots, parachute jumpers and a dirigible from Scott Air Force Base near Belleville.
The Du Quoin State Fair has also notched some firsts: staged the first night horse show under electric lights and the first night stage show starring the Music Box Revue in 1929.
In 1970s and 1980s, the fair attracted such headliners as Bob Hope, Sammy Davis, Jr., Alabama, Willie Nelson, Jim Nabors and the Bee Gees. Even the likes A. J. Foyt, Tony Bettenhausen and Mario Andretti know the fair.
Although Hayes started his business career selling soft drinks from a pushcart to establishing a Coca-Cola bottling and distributing plant, a dairy products company and a chain of 19 movie theaters.
The fairgrounds has changed hands over the years, with the state of Illinois taking ownership in 1986.
Today, Huff and his fellow staff at the fair are making preparations to host the next fair, which follows an It’s a Jungle Out There theme.
For more information, call 618-542-1515 or go to www.duquoinstatefair.info |
