THE WASHINGTON HOLLOW FAIR Louise Tompkins Historical notes and personal experiences at the original Dutchess County fairgrounds. Louise Tompkins is town historian of the Town of Washington. The original fairground of the Dutchess County Agri1 cultural Society, organized in 1806, was situated at the northeast corner of Routes 82 and 44 at Washington Hollow. It was so named to honor George Washington.
According to
tradition he and his officers made camp one night under a huge cottonwood tree which stood in front of the present Cottonwood Inn. For a great many years, the Washington Hollow Fairwas the grand event of the summer season.
Farmers and their
families came from all over the county in coaches drawn by four horses, wagons drawn by two horses, carriages drawn by one horse, ox carts, and on foot.
Many of the families had
to leave home at 4 o'clock in the morning so they could spend as much time as possible at the Fair. The farmers usually owned their own farms.
Some lived
on farms which had been in the family for three generations.
The farmers, their wives, children and grandchild-
ren all knew each other.
When they arrived at the Fair,
they greeted each other with such joy and enthusiasm that they seemed to be at a Farmer's Reunion, instead of at a country fair. Bands played lively music, and when one band stopped playing, another began.
Vendors sold cotton candy and
lemonade, "made in the shade, by an Old Maid"--or so they said!
Farmers' wives displayed at booths their canned
fruits, jellies, pickled pears, peaches, and cucumbers. At other booths they displayed things they had made such as bedspreads, rugs, dresses, aprons, and other handmade items.
The farmers exhibited their finest horses, cows,
sheep, pigs, goats, chickens, turkeys, geese, and ducks. Some farmers started the day before the Fair opened to
