“The fair has been around in one form or another for 118 years. Residents and visitors have come together to celebrate the livestock and agricultural products of the region. The origins of the fair can be traced back to 1908, when the Skamania County Agriculture Fair debuted October 5-10. Back then, residents grew fruits and vegetables for the event - livestock were apparently not included. Familiar names that now grace county roads participated - Prindle, Glur, Rakestraw, and Butler were among those named as prize-winners.
In 1941, the county fair was held just one day - August 22nd - and the Pioneer of the year doesn’t mention the agriculture fair. World War II commenced on December 7, 1941, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. The war effort consumed the efforts of residents across the county, and the fair appears to have been discontinued as the war raged. But in 1946, a 4-H Club Fair was held in the west end (at the Mount Pleasant Grange) on August 24th.
By 1950, the county fair began to look much like it does today, with exhibits of flowers and vegetables, livestock shows, the talent show, the parade through downtown Stevenson, and fireworks. The fair schedule expanded to four days in 1966 and included an Indian Village and the Skamania Stampede Rodeo.
The Saturday parade has long been a feature of the fair, with the Skamania County Horseback Club conducting a parade on both Friday and Saturday for a time. The route ran for years from Stevenson High School to Vancouver Avenue, then east along Second Street/State Route 14. In 2016, the Fair Board decided to reverse the parade’s direction by starting at the Columbia Gorge Interpretive Center Museum and ending in Downtown Stevenson. At that time, the board also reduced the fair by one day by lopping off Sunday. The decision was made for several reasons: fewer people were attending the fair on Sunday, and animal owners needed to safely remove their animals from the fairgrounds."
Our thanks to Philip L. Watness of The Skamania Pioneer for compiling this history of our Skamania County Fair