The Springfield Fair

Don Hamilton's team pulls at an earlier Springfield Fair 

Horse pulls are still a featured attraction at the Springfield Fair

Horse pulls, tractor pulls, livestock exhibits....an agricultural fair tradition that has been a part of Maine's history since 1818 (two years prior to Maine's statehood!) with the opening of the Skowhegan State Fair, the oldest continuous-running fair in the United States.   I remember going to the Skowhegan State Fair as a young girl.  I loved the tilta whirl type rides and a ride that would go in one direction, slow down and then go in the opposite direction....neither ride left the ground!  However, it is the Springfield Fair that continues to surface through the pages of my family history.

Fair season in Maine runs from July to early October.  During this time there are over 20 agricultural, county and country fairs scattered around the state.  The Springfield Fair, the second oldest fair in Maine, began it's tradition in 1850.  In 1900 Springfield boasted a population of 532 which is slightly greater than it's 409 population as of the 2010 census.  Undoubtedly, the fair was a highlight and a major event for the small community.  (Note of interest:  the Fryeburg Fair is Maine's largest agricultural fair and attracts more than 300,000 visitors each October!)

My dad's oldest living sister, Eunice met her future husband, Ward, at the Springville Fair.  And it was at the Springville Fair that my grandmother, Dora, was introduced to her biological father, Alvra Butters, for the first time.  Dora was a mother of seven children and about 43 years old at the time.  She was at the Sprinfield fair with her three then youngest children; Leta, Lois and Jesse Jr.   Grandma Maybelle was also at the fair.  Maybelle brought a complete stranger over to Dora and said "Dora, I'd like you to meet your father."  Dora was later introduced to her two half-sisters; Cora and Laura, who were running a hot dog stand at the fair.  Cora and Laura were the children of Alvra and Maybelle's sister, Eva, who died (perhaps in childbirth) while the girls were still very young.  Alvra and Laura are pictured below.

My dad, Jesse Jr., remembers going to the Springfield Fair almost every year of his early youth.  It was an exciting time and one they all looked forward to since it was about the only diversion they had from the normal routine of life.   He did not, however, enjoy the 20 mile trip from Prentiss to Sprinfield as he would get carsick every time!  He remembers they would have animals that they would show and there was a big stand with the back of the stand up against the road where everyone would gather to watch the events.  He would ride the merry-go-round and the ferris wheel.  He wasn't too keen of the ferris wheel since it would give him a funny feeling when it was at the top and would start it's decent.  There always seemed to be a big crowd.  Jesse Jr. doesn't remember going to the fair after they moved to St. Albans so his carefree fair memories were all made by the age of ten.