Utah State Fair

Nine years after the pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, they held their first state fair in October of 1856 then called the “Deseret Fair”. Although the exhibits were described as meager, the public showed keen interest and eagerly sought space to display some of the finest products from their own homes, shops, and fields.
Until the current Fairpark location was acquired, finding a home for the fair always presented a problem. The first fairs were held in several locations including the Deseret Store and Tithing Office where Hotel Utah now renamed The Joseph Smith Buiding was constructed, a site on State Street at 200 South known as “Market Row”, 100 South and West Temple, and the “Tenth Ward Square”, where Trolley Square now stands.
Even through lean years, drought, and little financial help from the Territorial Legislature, the fair managed to survive.
In 1902, the Legislature purchased the 65 acres of the Fairpark, originally called “Agriculture Park.” The first building at the Fairpark was the Horticulture Building (later renamed Promontory Hall). Local architects, Walter E. Ware and Alberto Treganza (who also designed the First Presbyterian Church, University Club Building, and Westminster College’s Gymnasium) designed the Horticulture Building sometimes called the “Gateway to the Fairpark” constructed on the corner of North Temple and 1000 West. It is one of the most beautiful buildings on the Fairpark, featuring a combination of early Mission Style and Beaux Arts, it is no exception to the outstanding work of Ware and Treganza.