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.

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.




Related stories
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.
Read storyRocky 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.
Read storyWatermelon 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.
Read story




