Austin Lewis Staff Writer

This year the Puyallup Fair has officially been renamed to the Washington State Fair, but what other changes has the fair gone through since it was first opened? Let’s take a look. 

The Puyallup Fair opened for the very first time in 1900 and back then it was a small venue occupying a vacant lot near Pioneer Park in Puyallup, Washington.

Since it’s first year, the fair has gotten more and more successful, continually growing in size and adding more and more attractions.

The first grandstand was built in 1914, and in 1915 the fair first started selling their iconic delicacies, fisher scones.

In the 1920’s the first carousel was brought in and still resides within the fairgrounds today. It has been restored and now has it’s own building; it is also now valued at  $1.3 million dollars.

While the fair has been growing steadily since it was first opened, it has seen its share of setbacks.

During World War 2 the fair grounds were taking by the federal government in 1941 and used as an army base, and in 1943 it was used as a temporary shelter for Japanese-Americans. The fair grounds were still occupied by the military until December and then the fair grounds were permanently closed until they held the first post war fair in 1946.

There was also a fire in June of 1970 that caused over $1.25 million dollars worth of damage to the fair grounds.

The fair is home to many attractions such as the Extreme Scream, a tower that has a rings of chairs on the outside and carries you to the top before dropping you and lifting you back up several time, 3 rollercoasters the newest being the Rainer Rush, dozens of carnival games you can win prizes at, and multiple smaller rides for children.

There are a ton of places to buy food and you can get almost  anything you can think of, from a blooming onion to deep fried snickers bars, and the two most iconic foods served at the fair are Fisher Scones, a baked biscuit filled with jam, and the Earthquake Burger, a whooping hamburger on a 6 inch bun.

It also holds concerts and events every night in the grandstands that have sometimes featured extremely popular music artists. This year some of the bigger names were Kid Rock, Carly Rae Jepsen, and Carrie Underwood.

Through the good and the bad, the Puyallup fair has prospered since it’s founding, making it’s way into the top 10 largest fairs in the United States and will continue to prosper now as the Washington State fair. Even though the name may change, its motto of “Do The Puyallup!” will remain the same.