{"nrhp_refnum":"97000380","name":"Mercer County Fairgrounds","other_names":["Mercer County Agricultural Board Fairgrounds"],"category":"district","location":{"address":"12th Ave., SW., .5 mi. S of jct. with IL 17","address_restricted":false,"city":"Aledo","county":"Mercer County","state":"IL","lat":41.191839454000046,"lon":-90.76453414747672,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1997-05-02","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Agriculture","Entertainment/Recreation"],"significance_levels":["local"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 52.41-acre county fairgrounds district on the southwest edge of Aledo, Mercer County, Illinois, holding wooden exhibition halls, barns, a grandstand and a half-mile track. The fair moved to this site in 1869, and the oldest surviving building dates from 1880.","why_significant":"The fairgrounds has hosted the Mercer County Fair continuously since 1869 and still serves its original purpose. Its surviving 1880-1926 wooden buildings, such as the Pumpkin Building, Floral Hall, grandstand and Merchants' Building, show the growth of the fair as an agricultural and social event. The fair also promoted local farming through competitions and gave residents a place to gather.","narrative":"Mercer County Fairgrounds occupies 52.41 flat acres on the southwest side of Aledo, Illinois, where the county fair has been held since the Agricultural Society moved it from Millersburg in 1869. The grounds contain a half-mile dirt track with a grandstand, exhibition halls, animal barns, a brick office and ticket building, and food stands. Eleven buildings contribute to the district. The oldest is the eight-sided Exhibition Building of 1880, known as the Pumpkin Building, followed by the Greek Cross-plan Floral Hall of 1882, built by contractor J. S. Pinkerton. A fire in 1920 destroyed most wooden structures on the south side, and the swine barn and rest rooms were built in 1921 to replace them. The 1926 Merchants' Building was finished in under a month. Fair competitions pushed local farmers to improve yields, and the grounds became a long-running community gathering place. The fair continues there each July, so use of the site has not changed.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"J. S. Pinkerton (Exhibition Building and Floral Hall); J. L. Sharp and Son (Merchants' Building)","architectural_style":"Late Victorian; Late 19th and 20th Century American Movements","criteria":[],"status_note":"Still used for the annual Mercer County Fair, held usually in the second week of July, and for occasional picnics, auctions and shows. Its current use matches its historic use.","vacant_flag":false,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.398483-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/19/8937/28893719/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/97000380.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000380/862ae61c2e-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/97000380/862ae61c2e-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 3.0","author":"Boscophotos","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Image_Fairgrounds,_Mercer_County.jpeg\" rel=\"noopener\">Boscophotos</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 3.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Image_Fairgrounds,_Mercer_County.jpeg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28893719","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercer_County_Fairgrounds","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q24061792"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/mercer-county/mercer-county-fairgrounds-97000380/"}