Upon its founding and into the early Twentieth century, the Mesa County Fair was held first at the old Mesa County Fairgrounds north of Bookcliff Avenue and between 7th Street and Bookcliff Drive, and then in the area now known as Lincoln Park. According to Howard Shults, his father, auctioneer James Shults, was the last person to organize the Mesa County Fair in this location.
The Fair now takes place at the present Mesa County Fairgrounds on Orchard Mesa. In its early days, most of the fair’s exhibits were built around the fruit industry. The fair also included a carnival. The carnival had mid-way attractions, a shooting gallery, ring toss, merry go round, ferris wheel, and tent shows (with numbers like the two-headed calf, acrobats and contortionists, and shows like the Girl in Red, with a woman in a “daring costume” performing for men). Refreshments included the forerunner of the Coney Island Redhot hotdog, cotton candy and soda pop.
