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| Photo from the Virginia Tech Imagebase |
Demolition derbies and well-known entertainers are standard attractions now. But there's still the horse and mule pull and the horse shows, where you see little boys so small they can walk under the bellies of their mounts, girls racing around barrels, and men and women with fast walking horses, their manes and tails streaming behind them.
Our agricultural roots are the foundation of fairs. The annual fair was an opportunity to show off your livestock. A prize-winning bull or mare might be sold for a good price, or bring income when bred. When we rarely traveled outside our county, the annual fair was a chance to catch up with distant neighbors, as well as take a breath after the long days and hard work of growing and harvesting. |
| Photo from the Virginia Tech Imagebase |
The 1890 Census of Agriculture shows Russell County with over 1500 farms producing 144,489 bushels of apples (43,259 bearing trees), plus the cherries, peaches, and pears. Sheep production for that year was 9161 fleeces (35,084 pounds of wool.) The cows produced more than 1 million gallons of milk in 1890. Russell County produced 840 lbs. and 48 gallons of maple syrup (with 170 acres in sorghum, making 85 gallons of molasses.) Over 150 acres of potatoes (Irish and sweet) produced over 10,000 bushels.
In 1954 Russell County had over 2,000 farms with over 200,000 acres in production. In the 2017 Census of Agriculture, Russell County had 918 farms with 170,285 acres in production. The volume of crops produced in the 21st century pales when compared to
the variety of crops produced a hundred years ago. A big buzz has been
about growing hemp; Russell County grew that in 1890. But in 2017 no production of sorghum or wool fleeces.
The earliest fairs date from 1916 and the Russell County Fair and Horse Show began at Lebanon in 1923 and resumed after World War II in 1948. The community changes but the rituals remain... for nearly 100 years.
Posted by Kelly McBride Delph
