Flemington Fairgrounds

UPDATES:
2002 – Fire – office Ken Myers building. Beer garden. – teen vandals. Two lawsuits against the planning board.

9/19/02 – public hearing to rezone is Monday night at 7:30 pm – police court bldg. Rezone from industrial to planned commercial office service zone – 2 box stores, and 12 ancillary stores. SEVERAL PLANS: Anton Nelison, a professor at Rutgers – created a plan with a hotel, performance space, recreation center. Chris Bikell (Fair Oaks Park) created plan to keep track, oak trees, surrounded by trees, and buildings with mixed use. Keeps track, Kuhl building. Dirt Studio – Landscape architects.

10/12/06 Raritan Township granted approval to the developer for a commercial complex that will include 2 big box stores Wal-Mart & Lowes and 9 other stores. The annual county and agricultural fair that used these grounds now take place at a county-owned site in East Amwell Twp.

DESCRIPTION:
The 51.382-acre site that is the Flemington Fairgrounds has been the hub of the Flemington and Raritan Township Community for over 140 years. In 1856, the Hunterdon Agricultural Society acquired twenty-five acres for an annual agricultural fair. This fair has become a staple in the summer seasons of not only Hunterdon County residents, but of residents throughout the state. For a brief time (1862-1864), the fairgrounds were usurped by the Governor to serve as an encampment (Camp Fair Oaks) for civil war recruits. The grounds have adapted over the years, adding or deleting attractions as tastes change. Dating from 1917, the Fairgrounds feature the oldest weekly auto-racing track in the country.

CONTACT:
Beryl L. Doyle, Citizens for Parkland,
Flemington
908-782-4109

Lois Stewart, Citizens for Parkland,
Flemington
908-782-4342