Tiverton Agricultural Society History
Established in 1861, the Tiverton Agricultural Society has been an integral part of Tiverton and the surrounding community.
Although changes over the years have given us a different appearance, our purpose of promoting agricultural awareness and enhancing our community culture remain the same.
The early fairs were held in the south east corner of the village in a frame building owned by Climax Cheese Company.
This building was destroyed in a windstorm in 1913.
In 1915 seven acres on the north east side of Tiverton was purchased from John Patton by issuing debentures in the amount of 502.50. The same year an arena was constructed with Charles Woods hired to build the walls, Joe Wrightson to build the arches and the roof.
The remainder of the building was constructed with volunteer labour from local citizens.
In 1949, additional land was purchased from the Todd family along the north side in order to install a ½ mile track.
In 1950 a barn was purchased and moved to this site from the 7th Conc. of Kincardine Township to be used for horses. The barn was destroyed by fire August 27, 1968.
Volunteers of the Agricultural Society constructed a new shed 24’ x50’ and it was ready to use for our fair on October 5th of that year.
The arena/exhibit hall was destroyed by fire in 1966. The new arena at that time was built by the Community Centre Board outside the fair grounds.
The Tiverton Agricultural Society continue to rent that facility for fair purposes.
In 1961, John Lisk of Clavering, Ontario was hired to erect the stone structures at the fairground entrance to commemorate the Society’s 100th anniversary.
In 2011, a second set of gates were commissioned for our 150th anniversary.
These gates were built by Marv Albrecht, Kincardine Twp.
The support of our community, directors, volunteers, spectators and participants over the years, coming together to create the history of the Tiverton Agricultural Society and promote our rural community culture leaving us with memories and a community to be proud of.