The Central Carolina Fair Grounds hosted a few exhibition football games in the early 1900s, primarily for the regional fair of the same name.

Overall, NC State had a record of 1-1 at this field, playing both games as conference games against fellow North Carolina Athletics Association member Guilford.

  * Non-conference games

A group of individuals interested in holding a fair in Greensboro organized the Central Carolina Fair on June 18th, 1900; just over a week later, they purchased 32 acres of land adjacent to the Southern Railroad with the purpose of constructing a half-mile horse track and hosting a fair. "This is to be no ordinary county fair," wrote an editor for the Greensboro Telegram, "but an up-to-date, thoroughly modern exhibit of everything interesting and attractive usually seen at the biggest fairs, gala weeks, etc." The group had intentions of organizing the fair by the coming November [3] [4] [5].

A few weeks later, a contract was awarded to Stewart Brothers, a Rock Hill, South Carolina company. Their contract called for a 1/2-mile, 40-foot track; this size would make it "one of the best in the country." Just a week later it was announced the fair would run from October 9th through the 12th. Work started immediately [6] [7]. Though the track and its associated 3,000-person grandstand was the main focus of construction, the organization also had built a 2-story exhibition building [8]. All of the construction was reported to be finished by late September [9].

Unfortunately, the grand opening of the fair was postponed a day, to Wednesday, October 10th, due to inclement weather; to account for this, the fair was initially extended to Saturday, the 13th, but the date was eventually canceled after several prominent horsemen announced their intentions to skip the day to prepare better for their next races [10] [11]. Though horse racing was the main draw, a dog show (reported to be the first in the state), a balloon ascension, a midway, livestock judging, and agricultural displays were also expected to entertain spectators.

Another feature was a football game, which Guilford won 5-to-nothing. Though I haven't found any evidence to confirm it, the game was almost certainly played inside the horse track. Unfortunately, very few details of that game remain. The game was watched by almost all of the Guilford students, who were given the day off to visit the fair. As their monthly magazine reminisced, "Most of the students attended the fair where peanuts, red lemonade, Rosco the snake eater, and a football victory combined to make them happy" [12].

Guilford played a second game at the fair grounds later that season when they met Oak Ridge, a local military school, for a Thanksgiving Day game. The game was heavily anticipated: the teams hadn't met since 1893 because the last time they played, too many fights broke out. The 1900 game was no different, even drawing Dr. Holt, president of Oak Ridge and one of two timekeepers for the day, into the fray. Probably the most interesting element of the reportedly boring game, which Guilford won 10-to-nothing, was the horse races which ran simultaneously with the game [13].

The fair ran at the same week the following year; it again hosted a Guilford-NC State football game. This time, the Red and White won by a convincing 21-6 score. I have found no evidence to suggest that the fair grounds ever hosted another football game. Even without football, the fair was successful; in 1915, one young schoolgirl described vividly the "crowd of people on Main street... so dense that one could scarcely breathe" [14]. The fair has gone on to have a long and successful history in Greensboro, and is still running to this day; it was renamed the Greensboro Agricultural Fair around 1938, before becoming the jumbled Greensboro Central Carolina Agricultural Fair for just one year in 1999. The following year, it returned to the previous, more concise name by dropping the "Greensboro" and "Agricultural" from the name [15].

In 1958, the city of Greensboro began constructing what eventually became the Greensboro Coliseum on the grounds of the fair. Fences were erected so the fair could be held and construction continue to take place in 1958, while in 1959 the fair was held on the paved parking area of the exhibition [16] [17]. In 1960, all the fair but the livestock shows and a few static exhibits were shown inside the Greensboro Coliseum, with the agricultural element becoming so meager and the barn so dilapidated that Greensboro's farm columnist, George H. Yow, suggested the fair drop the "agricultural" part of its name [18].

The grandstand and racetrack which housed the football games was torn down with the construction of the coliseum in 1958, officially closing the door on the life of the "football field" between the racetracks which had laid dormant since 1901. The original grandstands were were expanded to seat 5,000 in 1907, with a second smaller grandstand, holding 2,000, built as well [19]. The north section of what may have been the original grandstand burnt down during a race in 1955, resulting in the destruction of 16 cars, two trucks, and a motorcycle, but thankfully nothing more than minor injuries. As luck would have it, the stands were slated for demolition within the next year anyhow [20]. The last races were held in 1958.

Pictures of Central Carolina Fair Grounds