Fair Grounds I - Columbia, SC

Columbia's Fair Grounds I were used primarily by South Carolina and Clemson for their long-standing "Big Thursday" rivalry game, played on the Thursday of fair week; once the rivalry was paused from 1902-1909, the teams took to hosting neutral site contests on the grounds. It was replaced by Fair Grounds II for fair purposes, and remained a supplementary field to the Gamecock's on-campus Davis Field for its lifespan.

Overall, NC State had a record of 0-1 at this field, losing their lone contest as a neutral-site non-conference affair.

Date	Opponent	Time	Ranking	Result	Attendance	Length	Comments
10/28/1903	vs Clemson *	11 AM	-	L, 0 - 24		45 min.	South Carolina State Fair

* Non-conference games

As with other southern states, regional fairs had long popular throughout the state of South Carolina when, in 1840, the Palmetto State became one of the nation's first adoptors of a statewide fair. The event was held on the statehouse grounds until 1845, at which time it was canceled; the era's lack of transportation (especially for livestock) was said to be the primary culprit. After over a decade on ice, the State Agricultural Society was revived in 1856, bringing the fair back to the state capital. But this time, the fair would not be held at the capitol building: the City of Columbia provided a 30-acre plot of land in the north section of the city, just off of Elmwood Avenue, with the first fair held in November 1856 [1].

The fair ran from 1856 to 1861, when the outbreak of the Civil War necessitated a second pause in the event. Having been used for several purposes by the Confederacy, all of the fair's permanent structures were burnt in 1865 during Sherman's March to the Sea; that, plus the general condition of the post-war south, delayed the fair's reopening until 1869, when the city re-leased the land to the state agricultural society. The rebuilt grounds featured a two-story, 80' x 40' exhibit building, as well as a 1/2-mile racetrack with a grandstand. In 1871, the grounds hosted their first match of baseball, and by 1873, the race track was enlarged to be 3/4-mile. At the same time, a new grandstand seating about 1,500 persons was erected [1] [2].

The fair proved to be a success, with the midway having to relocate to Main Street starting the 1880's to provide room for other festivities. The first football game was held on the fairgrounds on November 14th, 1891, when Trinity (now Duke) defeated Furman by an astounding 96-0 score. I have been unable to find descriptions of any major renovations or enlargements to the Fair Grounds' seating, though bleachers likely came and went as needed. The fair remained at the Elmwood location until 1903, when the southwestern portion of the racetrack was sold by Charles Logan for residential lots. When the new grounds were selected, most of the old buildings were demolished. One of the only structures to survive the move was the grandstand, which was transferred to the new location, at Rosewood Avenue [1] [3].

That marks the end of the fair at the Elmwood Avenue site, but not the end of its athletic uses. The 1904 baseball season was played at the old fairgrounds, utilizing the old grandstand before it made its journey southward. The following season, the site was again selected after the University of South Carolina declined the use of their grounds (Davis Field), with the semi-pro baseball team (the Columbia Skyscrapers, of the South Atlantic League) agreeing to keep up the grounds until Logan's wife, Louisa D. Logan, opted either to execute her husband's deed or passed away, whichever came first; at that time, the land would legally be transferred to the city to become a school. They built a 1,000-seat grandstand in the southwest corner of the grounds, facing almost due north. Though still often called the old fairgrounds, some writers also began calling the diamond Elmwood Park, though the name was never formally changed [4].

The diamond remained at the corner of Elmwood and Gadsden through 1912, though the condition of the grounds was never considered ideal. Improvements were fairly minimal thanks to the looming threat of expulsion; as early as 1907, it was widely expected the team would relocate to the new fair grounds. Nonetheless, South Carolina's Sally League entrants -- now dubbed the Comers (short for "Commissioners") -- forged on, adding about 1,000 bleacher seats (200 of them for colored patrons) in 1908 and putting the grounds through an "almost complete transformation" in 1909. A minor (but fun) addition came in 1910, when Columbia's park became among the nation's first to have a "Hit This" sign -- theirs was a common Bull Durham tobacco-sponsored bull offering sharpshooting batters $50 (just under $1,700 today) for connecting ball to bovine [5].

Despite further bandying for "a firm and permanent" location, the Comers never did quite come or go, finishing out the 1912 South Atlantic League season in Elmwood. In early 1913, though, the town received the title to the grounds, as well as Charles' promised $40,000 (just shy of $1 million in 2025) donation to help establish a new school. Ground broke in January, and by December 1913, the Logan School opened for classes. This put the semi-pro team at a loss of where to play: the University of South Carolina still wouldn't volunteer their field for use, and the new Fair Grounds were considered too hard to access to draw a regular crowd [6].

The next couple decades of Columbia's baseball team are unrelated to the life of the Fair Grounds, but worth covering briefly. Semi-pro baseball returned to the Capital City in 1914 at a short-lived diamond variously called either League Park or Comer Park, located at the southwest corner of Hampton and Huger Streets. By 1916, the Comers began using Davis Field after Comer Park was demolished to make room for an adjacent business; they remained on the Gamecock's turf until 1926, when they moved to Fair Grounds II; the following season, Capital City Park (formerly Dreyfuss Field) was opened [7].

A lightly modified version of an 1882 map of Columbia, South Carolina showing the fair ground's racetrack, where football games were held. The grandstand was the southernmost of the two black rectangles on the west side of the loop [8]

Approximate location of Fair Grounds I on a modern map of Columbia.

Pictures of Fair Grounds I

Unfortunately, I have been unable to find any good images of sports at the Fair Grounds. Below are the few images I've been able to find.

Probably the best-known image of Columbia's first Fair Grounds, and one of the earliest, comes from a bird's eye drawing of the city made in 1872 [9]

This photo, taken outside of the Fair Grounds in 1887, shows the rear of the Agricultural Department building in 1887. From this angle, the grandstand was located just behind and to the left of the photogrpaher [10]

Supposedly, the Fair Grounds can be seen at the left of this image showing a snowy Columbia in 1898 [11]

Unfortunately, these images showing mostly individual members of the South Atlantic League's Columbia Comers in 1911 and 1912 are the best views of the athletic portion of the park I've been able to find. This image shows members of the 1911 team [12]

First, images from the cornerstone laying of the Logan School in 1913, and second, modern image. Several of the buildings in the background of the first couple images can be seen in the background of the baseball photos. Note in particular the building in the second image, which still remains at 2118 Lincoln St [14]

[1]	Rodger E. Stroup - Meet Me At the Rocket: A History of the South Carolina State Fair
[2]	Daily Phoenix, November 23rd, 1869, p. 2; Charleston Daily Courier, November 11th, 1869, p. 4; Columbia History Buff; Press and Banner, September 17th, 1873, p. 3; The Daily Phoenix, October 18th, 1873, p. 2; The State, September 3rd, 1901, p. 1
[3]	The State, October 18th, 1903, p. 20; The State, May 13th, 1904, p. 3
[4]	The State, March 30th, 1904, p. 6; The State, December 9th, 1904, p. 5; The State, January 8th, 1905, p. 5; The State, February 26th, 1905, p. 5
[5]	The State, October 16th, 1907, p. 5; The State, February 23rd, 1908, p. 5; Columbia Record, March 4th, 1909, p. 8; The State, December 30th, 1909, p. 8
[6]	The State, May 24th, 1911, p. 6; The State, January 15th, 1913, p. 5; Columbia Record, January 18th, 1913, p. 8; Columbia Record, April 15th, 1913, p. 11; The State, December 14th, 1913, p. 7B; The State, April 5th, 1914, p. 9B; Warner Miller Montgomery - Columbia Schools, pp. 21-22
[7]	Columbia Record, February 22nd, 1914, p. 6B; Columbia Record, March 24th, 1914, p. 5; Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Columbia, 1919, Sheet 11; The State, March 3rd, 1916, p. 8; Columbia Record, April 22nd, 1923, p. 1C; The State, March 24th, 1926, p. 11; Columbia Record, March 24th, 1927, p. 10; The State, February 7th, 1946, p. 8
[8]	Gray's new map of Columbia, Richland County, South Carolina, 1882
[9]	Bird's eye view of the city of Columbia, South Carolina 1872.
[10]	The State, February 1st, 1948, p. 1D
[11]	South Carolina Digital Archives - Views of Columbia, South Carolina
[12]	The State, March 11th, 1911, p. 5; The State, March 12th, 1911, p. 5; The State, April 2nd, 1911, p. 5; The State, April 6th, 1911, p. 5; The State, April 7th, 1911, p. 5; The State, April 12th, 1911, p. 5; The State, April 13th, 1911, p. 5; The State, May 15th, 1911, p. 5; The State, May 18th, 1911, p. 5; The State, May 23rd, 1911, p. 5; The State, September 1st, 1911, p. 5; The State, September 3rd, 1911, p. 5; The State, August 7th, 1911, p. 5
[13]	The State, April 4th, 1912, p. 5; The State, April 16th, 1912, p. 10; The State, April 16th, 1912, p. 11; The State, April 22nd, 1912, p. 10; The State, May 21st, 1912, p. 5; The State, May 28th, 1912, p. 5; The State, June 8th, 1912, p. 5; The State, August 2nd, 1912, p. 5; The State, August 4th, 1912, p. 5; The State, August 5th, 1912, p. 5; The State, August 7th, 1912, p. 5
[14]	The State, June 25th, 1913, p. 14; South Carolina Department of Archives and History - Logan School, Richland County (815 Elmwood Ave., Columbia)

Last updated: 8/3/2025