Arapahoe County Fair
History:
The first official Arapahoe County Fair was held in 1906 on the banks of the
South Platte River across river from Riverfront in Littleton. Floods, vandalism
and neglect took their toll on the original site, and the County Fair was
discontinued.
For almost 40 years, Arapahoe County was without a location for the fairgrounds.
Without a home, the County Fair was held in the early ‘40s in any available
parking lot during 1945, at the Rio Grande, which is now Bega Park in Littleton.
Then, during 1946-1984 came the fair’s first long-term home, the site at
Windermere and Belleview.
When the fairgrounds were lost in a land swap in 1985, the Fair Association
found a new home at the National Western Complex in Denver. It remained there
for five years until a group of volunteers brought it back to the County at the
Jockey Club Grounds and Deer Trail School.
In the years following, the Fair was held in different locations around the
County, including the CSU Extension building in Littleton, Castlewood Grange
Hall in Englewood, and Quint Valley Fairgrounds in Byers.
