On February 16, 1818, the first meeting about creating the Essex Agricultural Society to promote agricultural interest consisted of about... View Article

The First Cattle show of the Essex Agricultural Society was on October 5, 1820 in Topsfield. The show was only... View Article

In 1825, the construction of the Erie Canal was completed, creating a navigable route from the Atlantic Ocean to the... View Article

The ox was still the farmer’s chief reliance and he had a kingly place of honor at the Cattle Shows.... View Article

The decade opened with a Prospectus of an Agricultural Seminary at Andover. Twenty years had elapsed since Dr. Andrew Nichols... View Article

Beekeeping and Honey show made its debut at the 1841 Fair! The Beekeeping & Honey Show at the Fair has... View Article

During this decade the Transactions, which had been gradually increasing in size, reached a maximum of some 224 octavo pages... View Article

The Fair exhibits mowing machines for the first time, with the Society remarking that the invention “marks a new era... View Article

Dr. John Goodhue Treadwell willed his 150 acre farm and its buildings in Topsfield to the Essex Agricultural Society for... View Article

Fair officials raved about the Peabody location with its large populations of Lynn, Salem and Peabody on one side and... View Article

The Wright Brothers conduct the first powered airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.

The Fair was itinerant until 1910. For about 100 years the Topsfield Fair traveled around Essex county exhibiting in towns... View Article

All agricultural fairs in the state, including the Topsfield Fair, are cancelled because of a worldwide influenza pandemic.

The Nineteenth Amendment gives American women the right to vote.

The Topsfield Fairgrounds are wired for electricity, making a nighttime show an orchestra concert and dancing possible for the first... View Article

“While we do not care to be the biggest Fair in the state we do aim to have the Best... View Article

By 1925—after women were allowed membership into the Essex Agricultural Society—we finally see all of these disparate areas of competition,... View Article

The Fair expands to a 5 day fair!

Free admission in exchange for 50 pounds of scrap metal or 20 pounds of scrap rubber. This was done to... View Article

The fair has been held annually since that first cattle show with just six exceptions, all out of the hands... View Article

World War II comes to an end.

The Topsfield Fair opens its gates once again in 1946. After the 3 year year suspension due to the war... View Article

Ye Olde Pepper Company is currently our longest continuously running vendor  that is still with us at the Topsfield Fair... View Article

Dean & Flynn was contracted on the midway for the first time, and have been the Topsfield Fair’s midway operators... View Article

Hollywood’s Ice Capers of 1953 comes to the Topsfield Fair, marking the first outdoor skating show at any New England... View Article

Neil Armstrong becomes the first person to walk on the moon. Neil Armstrong was a NASA astronaut most famous for being... View Article

The year the first Mrs. Essex County was crowned. Through the years, hundreds of women have entered the Mrs. Essex... View Article

On October 6, 1976, Jody Nason, 6 weeks old, was named the youngest life member of the Essex Agricultural Society!

The last pari-mutuel dog racing event was held at the Topsfield Fair, after more than 30 years of racing there.

The vendor Learned’s, who is famous for their apple crisp opened for the first time at the 1981 Topsfield Fair.... View Article

The Topsfield Fair hosts its first All New England Giant Pumpkin Weigh-off.

The World Wide Web launches for public use. By the end of 1990, the first web page was served on the... View Article

The Coolidge Building was opened in two phase. It originally opened in 1981, and had limited features. In 1982 Coolidge... View Article

The record fell at Topsfield in 2007 when Joe Jutras of North Scituate, RI brought in a 1,689 pumpkin…and again... View Article

The Topsfield Fair weighs the first one-ton pumpkin, setting a new world record!

September 28, 2018 opening day of the Topsfield Fair 200th anniversary of the Essex Agricultural Society. The Fair is an... View Article