NC-H34 N.C. State Fair, 1873-1925 State Exposition of 1884 Camp Polk, 1918

Marker text: H34 N.C. STATE FAIR, 1873-1924 STATE EXPOSITION OF 1884 CAMP POLK, 1918
The area across Hillsborough Street from this site, today combining commercial and residential use, has a varied history with particular significance to the development of North Carolina State University. Extending from Brooks Avenue to Horne Street, the tract was from 1873 to 1925 the second site of the North Carolina State Fair. In October 1884 the fairgrounds hosted the State Exposition which promoted agriculture and mechanic arts, thereby boosting the stateÕs industrial growth. Exposition president William S. Primrose served as first chairman of the trustees of the North Carolina College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts (present-day N.C. State University), founded in 1887. The site in 1918 was part of Camp Polk, a World War I tank training facility.
Division of Archives and History, 1994