B. The Volusia County Fairgrounds History
Figure 12. The Original Volusia County Fairgrounds in 1923
A Century of West Volusia County, Dreggors & Hess and a few other pictures in the Conrad Museum are all that is known of the original design and construction of an elaborate complex for the Volusia County Fair Association, Inc. by architect Wm. J. Carpenter in 1923.
The original Volusia County Fair Grounds, located near the railroad tracks west of DeLand, was carved out of a forest in the early 1920s at a cost of nearly $40,000. Designed by William J. Carpenter, a local architect, the elaborate entrance to the fair grounds was built in 1923. The unique structure, displaying stylish Beaux Arts influences, belied the relatively simple vernacular buildings within the fair grounds. Although several of the original buildings in the fair grounds remain standing, the entrance gate deteriorated and was demolished.
The Board of Directors of the Volusia County Fair Association, Inc. planned an impressive facility to be located directly across from the DeLand Junction railroad station on the Atlantic Coast Line main north-south line so it would be visible to thousands of railroad passengers during the course of a year, and perhaps entice some of them to plan a layover in DeLand on their next journey. The exhibition buildings would necessarily be barnlike structures, but it was felt that they deserved a grand entrance that would attract nationwide attention. (Newcomers will note that the selected site was on West New York Avenue, the opposite side of DeLand from the present Fairgrounds, located on State Highway 44, near I95.) 27
