Category:Allentown Fairgrounds Grandstand, Allentown PA

The current grandstand at the Allentown Fairgrounds dates to 1912. It replaced the origional grandstand, which was a wooden structure, erected in 1890.

The Allentown Fairground grandstand's main purpose was to view the horse races, held on the quarter-mile track next to it beginning in 1891. By 1911, the original wooden structure simply wasn't large enough for the crowds, and it was decided to replace it with a larger brick, steel and concrete one, which opened in 1912.

During World War I, the fairgrounds was turned over to the United States Army which utilized it as Camp Crane. Camp Crane's mission was to train ambulance drivers. The grandstand was utilized in several ways, one as the headquarters building for Camp Crane; another as a large dining hall underneath the grandstand for the trainees, and lastly, as a reviewing stand for various formations. With the war's end in 1918, Camp Crane was returned to the Agricultural Society in 1919, and the grandstand returned to its prewar use during the 1919 Allentown Fair along with the horse races.

Along with the horse racing, the fair's first car races were also held in 1919 and were sanctioned by AAA, the forerunner to the United States Auto Club. Both horse and car racing were held at the fairgrounds until 1942 when both were shut down during World War II. Both resumed again in 1945, and they were highlights of the fair for many years. Allentown was a regular stop for Indy 500 drivers. Six Indy winners -- Ray Keech, Fred Frame, Floyd Davis, Bill Holland, Johnnie Parsons and Parnelli Jones -- also won at the fair. Indy winners who never won at the fair included Mario Andretti, A.J. Foyt, Bobby Unser, Wilbur Shaw, Mauri Rose, Bill Vukovich, Rodger Ward, Ralph de Palma, Billy Arnold and Sam Hanks.

It was after World War II that entertainment shows were added to the list of attractions at the Allentown Fair. In 1947, a stage was built in the infield of the track, directly behind the fence and a sound system installed, located directly across from the middle of the grandstand seating. Horse racing ended at the fairgrounds in 1960, and the final auto races at the fair was in 1967 With the end of racing, the track has fallen into a state of disuse, and the grandstand is now exclusively used for outdoor entertainment shows, with a much larger stage being erected and sound system. Track-level seating is also provided for shows on the former racetrack.

The grandstands (both original and current) were used for spectator seating when the Fairgrounds hosted semi-professional baseball games beginning 1n 1884 when the Allentown Dukes began play at the fairgrounds as part of the Pennsylvania-New Jersey League. The Dukes were formed in 1884 as one of the nine charter members of the Eastern League - not the one currently in operation, but, instead, the one that ultimately evolved into the present-day International League. the Pennsylvania-New Jersey League folded in 1914 and the Dukes went out of business as well.

In 1929, the Dukes reformed as part of the Eastern League (Not the one we know today), and again played at the Allentown Fairgrounds. That team made history on July 17, 1930, when it took on Springfield in one of professional baseball's first games played under "artificial lighting." The Dukes and the Eastern League disappeared in July 1932, when the league folded after two of its members lost their support from major league organizations. Baseball returned to the city in 1935 when, six games into the New York-Pennsylvania League season, Brooklyn suddenly shifted its Class A Reading team to Allentown, where for the next two seasons it played as the Allentown Brooks at the Fairgrounds.

In 1939, baseball moved to Fairview Field at Lehigh and S. Howard streets and the Fairgrounds ended its association with professional baseball.