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collection feature · Otero County · Late 1800s–1913

Historic Arkansas Valley Fair Photos

By Jeanette N Floyd Myers

Historic photographs and postcards document the Arkansas Valley Fair, its entrance, early attractions, and Watermelon Day traditions.

Archival view associated with Historic Arkansas Valley Fair Photos

This collection preserves historic views of the Arkansas Valley Fair, including the main entrance, a 1913 attractions postcard, visitors at the fairgrounds around 1907, and an early Watermelon Day gathering.

In the late 1800s, George Washington Swink held Watermelon Day in Rocky Ford after harvesting his first field of Rocky Ford watermelons. He shared the harvest with people throughout the area, who traveled by train and horse-drawn buggy to join the celebration.

rocky ford · historic photos

Historic Rocky Ford: History in Photos From the Archives

A visual journey through Rocky Ford, Colorado's archival photographs, tracing the town from its founding along the Arkansas River through its melon-growing heyday and early 20th-century growth.

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Rocky Ford · WPA

Adobe Stables at the Arkansas Valley Fairgrounds

WPA-built adobe stables at the Arkansas Valley Fairgrounds in Rocky Ford — a rare surviving example of exposed adobe construction.

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Watermelon Days · Arkansas Valley Fair

Rocky Ford’s Historic Watermelon Days

Photographs and memories from Rocky Ford’s celebrated Watermelon Days at the Arkansas Valley Fair.

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