The fair on Swinney's grounds: the [1847-1874] bracket

1847 or 1874 - by September, annually for many years

The grounds: Thomas Swinney came to Fort Wayne shortly before 1824, began his homestead in 1844, and held the west end lands where the St. Marys bends away from the town. His property was gathering ground before it was fair ground: on 4 July 1843 hundreds of people from Fort Wayne and the surrounding region celebrated the opening of the Wabash and Erie Canal on his land. Swinney gave the city the eastern portions of his property in his lifetime and bequeathed the house and about 240 acres to the city as a park that was to remain open and free to the public; in 1893 his daughters Rhesa, Frances and Caroline allowed the city early possession, and the land became Swinney Park.

The bracket: When the Allen County Fair was established on those grounds is printed two ways by two good sources, and this section prints both. The History Center's account of the Swinney home, written by county historian Tom Castaldi, states: in 1847, the Allen County Fair was established on these grounds, with a half-mile racetrack as well as the usual display pens and corrals, and the annual September Fair was held here for many years afterward. ARCH Fort Wayne's account of the Thomas Swinney House states the same sentence with the year 1874: in 1874, the Allen County Fair was established on these grounds, with a half-mile race track as well as the usual display of pens and corrals, and the annual September fair was held here for many years afterward. The difference is twenty-seven years and one digit's transposition in one of the two tellings, but the record found does not settle which, so the leg carries the fair's Swinney founding as the [1847-1874] bracket and claims no year inside it.

The fairground's other life: The grounds kept their gathering role after the fair years. In 1889 the first local Labor Day celebration was held on the Swinney grounds, and labor leaders long viewed the area as special ground for working people. A fairground that becomes a park and a labor landmark is the normal nineteenth century course: the exhibition leaves, the gatherings stay.

Sources:

1. History Center Notes and Queries, "Swinney Home" (Tom Castaldi, first published in Fort Wayne Magazine, "Along the Heritage Trail," April 2008) (the 1847 establishment, the half-mile racetrack, the September fair held for many years, the 1843 canal gathering, the 1889 Labor Day celebration).
2. ARCH Fort Wayne, "Thomas Swinney House," Heritage Trail (the 1874 establishment in the same sentence form, the bequest of the house and about 240 acres, the daughters' 1893 early possession).
3. Riverfront Fort Wayne, official history (for many years the Allen County Fair was held on the St. Marys just west of downtown in what is now Swinney Park).