THE NEW FAIR GROUNDS IN SOUTH KNOXVILLE

by Ron Allen

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Knoxville's first Fair was held at the Old Fair Grounds in East Knoxville in 1854. No Fairs were held again until 1870, when another Fair was held at the same site. Fairs continued in Knoxville until 1875, then after an absence of three years the Fair was again held in 1879, the final year a Fair was held at the original Fair Grounds.

On October 13, 1881, the Chronicle published the following description of the new Fair Grounds, which makes it clear that the main attraction was to be horse racing, as follows : " No one should fail to visit the new grounds of the Fair Association. The view of the grounds as you cross the bridge which spans the beautiful Tennessee River is certainly entrancing. A short drive after you cross the river brings you to the race track, which seems now to be attracting all lovers of sport. More than five hundred persons visited the grounds yesterday and drove around the magnificent track. We heard an old turfman say yesterday that the home stretch was the finest in America. Just think of a straight stretch nearly seven hundred yards long and fifty feet wide. The stalls are rapidly filling up. Over 100 have already been engaged and by Saturday night over 100 head of horses for the exhibition and for the races will be quartered on the grounds. The officers are working with all their energy to supply the unprecedented demands for stable room, and they announce that they will be able to accommodate all ... all seem jubilant over the prospect of success, and well they may be. The Fair opens Tuesday, 25^th instant, and continues for four days."

The Fair was held at the New Fair Grounds on October 25, 26, 27 and 28, 1881. The Chronicle reported that the New Fair Grounds had been established on land that had been leased from Mr. Jack Jones. The Fair was held under the auspices of the Fair and Turf Association, but for whatever reason that association apparently chose not to place newspaper advertisements in local newspapers promoting the 1881 Fair. At least, I have found no such ads, although the local newspapers did publish accounts of the daily activities during the Fair. The reason for the abandonment of the original fair grounds, located just beyond what later became known as the Five Points section in East Knoxville, has not been determined. For that matter, why the site on the south side of the river was chosen for the new grounds is not known. However, the fact that a bridge spanning the Tennessee river had been constructed, making the area more easily accessible to citizens, provides one explanation as to why that site would have been considered. In previous times, only ferries or other types of boats were available to transport citizens to the opposite side of the river, other than when a military bridge had spanned the river during the Civil War. In those earlier times, the area south of the Tennessee river was considered so inaccessible that it was known as "South America", and any thought of establishing a Fair Grounds in the area would probably have been foolhardy.

Horse racing events were again held at the south Knoxville site, for the four day period from October 17 through October 20, 1882. That year, newspaper accounts reported only the racing activities, with no mention of a Fair in conjunction with those events, as in the previous year. However, the newspaper accounts continued to refer to the South Knoxville site as the Fair Grounds. Such reports during that time period make it sometimes difficult to determine precisely what the definition of a "Fair" is -- or was -- particularly since the following year those same activities were again held at the same location and once again were referred to as the "Fair" in local newspaper accounts.

The 1883 "Exhibition", again under the auspices of the East Tennessee Fair and Turf Association, was held at the New Fair Grounds south of the river, in late October. The first day's activities were held on October 24, 1883, and the following day the Chronicle published a report of those activities in a column titled "The Knoxville Fair". Again, it was primarily a horse racing activity, but with the horse stock being judged, and sheep, hogs and cattle were also exhibited and judged on the second day of the Fair. Thus what newspapers referred to as the "Fair" was held at the South Knoxville site in 1883, although the previous year that same activity had been referred to only as a horse racing event.

The Fair Grounds in South Knoxville apparently were then abandoned for at least ten or twelve years, before the track was rebuilt or refurbished. and again was in use as a place for horse racing in the middle 1890's. By then, it track was owned by local black entrepreneur Cal Johnson, and it was known as Johnson's Race Track, although it occasionally was also called the South Knoxville Track. The South Knoxville race track is shown on the maps of Knoxville published in 1895 and 1897, the earlier map showing it simply as the Race Track, and the later map identifying it as the Johnson Race Track.

By the late 1890's, a new race track had been built near Chilhowee Park, also owned by Cal Johnson, that track later to become known as Speedway Circle. However, the track in South Knoxville continued in existence until around 1920, used by then for track meets, bicyclists, and for other events. I have been unable to locate any original 1890's illustrations, either photographs or drawings, of the Fair Grounds and race track in South Knoxville. However, the track in South Knoxville continued in existence until around 1920, still used by for track meets, bicyclists, and the like. The historical edition of the University of Tennessee Record, published in 1920, includes a few photographs taken at the track around that time, depicting the grandstand and the participating contestants in a track meet that was held at the South Knoxville site.

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