CALHOUN COUNTY FAIR TOKEN - Historical Albion Michigan

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the Calhoun County Fair, to be held August 16-22 at the fairgrounds in Marshall. This is one of those anniversaries that has some qualifiers in it. The Calhoun County Agricultural Society was actually organized in 1838, with the first fair being held on November 5, 1839. It was a one-day event held in a vacant store on State Street in Marshall, with a livestock display in an adjacent lot (217-219 E. Michigan Avenue). The original committee consisted of J. S. Fitch, H. J. Phelps and Charles D. Smith, with Thomas W. Wells as the secretary. Another fair was held on November 4, 1840 (the first to offer cash premiums) and a Mechanic’s Fair in 1845.

Early fairs were held at various sites in Marshall, the county seat. When Marshall lost out to become the state capital in 1847, the land that had been reserved for the state capitol building was then designated as the county fairgrounds. The 1849 fair (and presumably the 1848 one, too) was held here, but the 1852 fair was held on Hart Street. Documentation on fair dates and locations during these early years is sparse.

To celebrate the 100th Anniversasry of the fair in 1948, there was issued a special token which was good for 25¢ in trade. Back then 25¢ could go a long way. The elaborately designed trade tokens were struck in pewter, and measure 32 mm. in diameter.

The obverse design carries a triangle in the center with the legend, "Calhoun County Fair." On top is a scene of a covered wagon and oxen, symbolic of the pioneers who came to our county. On the left is a log cabin and the date "1848." On the right is the County building and the date "1948." At the bottom is the word "Centennial."

The reverse contains the text which declares: Top: "Michigan’s Oldest County Fair" Center" Bottom: "Redeem Before Sept 1, 1948." From our Historical Notebook this week we present a photograph of that token. How many of our readers remember these?

Today of course the Fair is run by the Calhoun County Agricultural and Industrial Society. We congratulate them on their 150th anniversary. The Fair has issued special 150th anniversary cookbooks which you may wish to purchase, and has other commemorative items. Just call the fair office for more information at (616) 781-8161.

	Frank Passic — Albion Historian An Albion native and 1971 graduate of Albion High School, Frank Passic has been researching and writing Albion history since 1976. He is the creator of the Albion Historical Notebook, with hundreds of articles appearing weekly in the Morning Star and The Recorder. Frank maintains an extensive personal archive including Riverside Cemetery records, family surname files, genealogies, photographs, city directories, and high school yearbooks. Support his 2026 research at the Historic Albion Michigan Facebook page. Historical Notebook \| From the Archives \| Subject List \| 100 Years Ago \| Alphabetical Index \| Frank Passic Home Page \| Albion History Books \| Contact Frank
	Michigan Prints by Maggie LaNoue Michigan Prints offers limited-edition archival Giclée prints, miniprints, notecards and boxed sets featuring Michigan landmarks, nature, resorts and nostalgia. Each print and card includes a legend on the back with stories about Michigan history. Albion scenes include the Kalamazoo River waterfall and the Blizzard of 1978. Find Michigan Prints online and at local shops. Michigan Prints \| Albion Scenes \| Custom Cards \| Zazzle Gifts
	AlbionMich.net — General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net is a hub for community life in the greater Albion area, featuring current news, city council updates, river restoration stories, parks and trails. See Albion's beautiful Kalamazoo River waterfall as it looks today — and follow the story of its future restoration. Includes news from The Recorder and stories about Albion's 17 parks. AlbionMich.net \| Albion Blog \| Frank Passic on AlbionMich.net
	General Guide to Albion AlbionMich.net offers two General Guides to the Albion area — one covering community life including city council, veterans, history, youth and wellness resources, and one covering the outdoors including roads, rivers, parks, trails and downtown. Both guides feature stories by local writers including contributors to The Recorder, sorted by topic for easy reference. General Guide — Community \| General Guide — Outdoors
	Robin James — Indices Unlimited Robin James is the editor of the Albion Historical Notebook and has kept Frank Passic's thousands of articles organized and searchable for decades. A trained librarian and archivist, Robin specializes in back-of-book and online indexing, multimedia collection management, and corporate information distribution. He also enjoys strange music and is a contributing editor for Igloo electronic music magazine. For more about his indexing services, visit Indices Unlimited.
AlbionDesign.com — Communications Specialists Since 1981 \| Advertise on AlbionMich.com