Geography Dept.GENEVA is the county seat of Kane County, Illinois. It is located approximately 36 miles west of Chicago. The Union Pacific/West Railroad Line borders on the south while the Fox River runs slightly to the east of city center dividing the city East and West. GPS coordinates are: 41° 53' 17" N, 88° 18' 59" W.The Fairgrounds extended from about 9th Street to the Kaneville Road split. Small silhouettes of trotters can be made out in the distance.The Fox River can be seen on this map at the far right, while the Fairgrounds appears to be nothing more than a footnote to the far left.Picture Gallery.The corner of 9th and State as it looks today. This was the eastern boundary of the Fairgrounds.The Fairgrounds ended where Kaneville Rd. splits off to the southwest. Harness racing took place as far back as 1869 where these homes now stand.Racing Results.No racing results have been recovered for this venue.THE COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS One would scarcely believe that the beautiful residence section south of
State Street and west of the St. Charles railroad track was once all fenced
in and the gathering place of the beauty and the chivalry of Kane County,
intent on seeing horses go "two-forty on a plank road," which was the
synonym for the highest equine speed more than half a century ago. That
was the Kane County Fairgrounds, a section of the original Garden of Eden,
for all I knew, because it was there when I became "old enough to take notice,"
and may have been there forever. Around it was a tight board fence about seven
feet high, over which we boys were able to climb if we could jump high
enough to get a grip on its top. For some ofus that meant having a stone a
foot high for a take off, which stone we lugged up from the creek south of the
grounds, "of which I was who," as Artemas Ward was wont to say, being
rather short of stature. Ability to climb the fence was rather important when
a hard hearted man stood at the gate with a demand for a quarter from each
one of us.
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History Dept.The Geneva Trotting Track and Fairgrounds was located south of State St. and west of the nearly now forgotten St. Charles Railroad (better known today as 7th Street) just beyond 9th Street. The Trotting Track and Fairgrounds appears on a bird's eye view lithograph from 1869 (at left), but it is unkown at this time when the last trotting event took place.Notable People.Memory Lane.The drivers of this time were known as "tailsitters" due to the sulky's high and tight seat configuration.Golden Slippers successfully campaigned the 1902 season with wins at Yorkville and Sandwich. The spunky chestnut mare was still racing in 1905 with a 2-2-2 summary on July 12th at the CHICAGO DRIVING CLUB in Austin.-- Images Courtesy of the Geneva History CenterAdvertisments....continued from column 1THE COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS On the somewhat higher ground in the center
were two exhibit buildings, enormous in my young eyes, but
actually about 75 feet long and 40 wide. One of these contained
a large assortment of farm and garden products, and the other was
devoted to women's handicraft, objects of art and wear strange in
both appearance and name and devoid of interest to boys. The first
time I learned of what crochet work meant was one closing day
when my father was awarding prizes, and he held up a formless
object and announced it had won the first prize for "crochet
work". Patchwork quilts were the most numerous and impressive,
some of them deserving the designation often used about things
by a man I knew at that period, as being "large, bloomin' and
peculiar." Next north of the exhibit buildings was a long shed
in which meals were served by whatever church society could make
the best deal with the management. Everybody was admitted free,
but could not get out without paying the smiling lady at the door
half a dollar.
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