137 years of gathering: Looking at a local street fair’s history

EAST PALESTINE, Ohio (WKBN) — The fries, the Ferris wheel … It’s fair season and right about now the locals are in line at the East Palestine Street Fair. First News took a look back in time at where the street fair started, and what guests can expect this year.

Once a year, everyone in town heads downtown.

“My favorite part, I think, is just coming downtown and seeing a lot of familiar faces that you don’t normally see every day,” said Roberta Brittain, with the East Palestine Chamber of Commerce. “Even though it’s a small town, everybody’s busy.”

The East Palestine Street Fair has been a small-town staple.

“I love getting the sausage sandwiches.. The fries — the fair fries — are the best,” Brittain said.

Dating back to as early as 1887, it’s been 137 years of gathering together as a community.

“If you look at the old pictures, some of the old pictures, some of the old videos, it’s really kind of neat how it has evolved,” Brittain said.

Back before elephant ears ruled the roost, there were real elephants roaming around East Palestine’s city park, where the original fair was held.

“They had carnival animals. They had a blimp, homemade aircraft in the early 1900s they were flying,” said Matt Dodge, East Palestine historical society president.

It was a sheer spectacle, drawing in thousands from around the area.

“It’s pretty awesome to know that we were one of the biggest fairs around in the county at one point,” Dodge said.

Nowadays, it’s back on Main Street, but it’s still attracting generations of families year after year searching for a funnel cake or deep-fried Oreo.

“My kids did all this, and now my grandkids are doing it,” Brittain said. “They’re so excited because they run through and they can’t wait to get on the rides or can’t wait to eat the fair food.”

It also gives businesses a chance to thrive, which are still recovering from an epic derailment 15 months ago . It’s a memory that takes a back seat this weekend.

“One of the ideas of having the street fair is to showcase our businesses, let people know what we have down here,” Brittain said. “I think the more event you have, the more you showcase your town, the better it is for your town.”

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