ROAD HOME BACK
Harris County Fair & Rodeo wrangles permanent home back in Tomball
Since its inception in Tomball in 1929, the Harris County Fair & Rodeo has changed hands and locations. After disbanding twice between 1955-79 and again in 2017-19, it will return to northwest Harris County.
1929
The Harris County Fair & Rodeo was born under the name “Tomball-Hufsmith Fair Association.”
1955
The fair disbands in Tomball due to a lack of interest.
1979
COURTESY “A TRIBUTE TO TOMBALL: A PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THE TOMBALL AREA”
The Harris County Fair & Rodeo restarts under new leadership; the rst fair is held at Bear Creek Park in Houston.
BY CASSANDRA JENKINS
The Harris County Fair & Rodeo will be moving its permanent home to Tomball in 2024 following the purchase in March of 165 acres for the fair. Fred Stockton, owner of Stock- ton Inc.—a for-pro t corporation in Hempstead—and chair of the Harris County Fair & Rodeo board, purchased the land near the Grand Parkway and Telge Road from Williams Family Land Tomball LLC in March. The rst fair and rodeo at the new grounds will be in October 2024, and Stockton said there are plans to have the grounds double as an event space for the community to use year-round. Pieces of the historic Tin Hall dance hall will also be incorporated in an event venue on the property. “Having the Harris County Fair here will bring economic prosperity to Tomball,” said Bruce Hillegeist, president of the Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce. Similar to the popular German Her- itage Festival held in Tomball each year, Hillegeist said he expects the fair to aid the area’s small businesses. “For German Fest, people come from all around the state to visit and stay a few nights. We are expect- ing the same thing from the fair,” he said. “People will come to watch their children and grandchildren, and we expect them to stay overnight, eat at local restaurants and visit the rest of the community. So the businesses will be the real winners here.”
2018
Community members gather with plans to recreate the county fair.
2017
Hurricane Harvey oods the fairgrounds, so the organization disbands again.
COURTESY HARRIS COUNTY FAIR & RODEO
2021
New leadership holds the rst fair at Bull Sallas Park in New Caney.
MARCH 2023
2022
Fred Stockton, chair of
Outgrowing its location, the fair moves to the Pasadena Fairgrounds.
the board, buys land in Tomball to donate to the Harris County Fair & Rodeo Association.
The Harris County Fair & Rodeo will be held at its new permanent location in Tomball. OCTOBER 2024
SOURCES: FRED STOCKTON, HARRIS COUNTY FAIR & RODEO, “WELCOME TO TOMBALL” BY LESSIE UPCHURCH COMMUNITY IMPACT
Traveling fair Hillegeist said he believes Tomball will also see an old legacy renewed with the return of the fair. According to Lessie Upchurch’s book “Welcome to Tomball”, the Harris County Fair & Rodeo started in 1929 in Tomball. It was called the Tomball-Hufsmith Fair Association, the North Harris County Fair and the Harris County Fair before being dis- continued in 1955. Restarting in 1979, the Houston Farm and Ranch organization led the fair for nearly 40 years. The Harris
County Fair & Rodeo was previously held in the Bear Creek area in Hous- ton. According to the fair’s website, after the fairgrounds ooded twice in 2017, the fairgrounds were con- demned and the original promoting organization disbanded. As the fair prepares to return to Tomball, Stockton said aside from himself, the Harris County Fair & Rodeo has a new board of directors. A few years after a group formed on Facebook to reform the organization, the fair began traveling to di erent communities in 2021, including New
Caney, Pasadena and Katy, where the fair is slated to be this fall. “The children of Harris County needed a fair,” Stockton said. “There was a group of us that never wanted it to go away.” Stockton said a permanent loca- tion will allow the community direct access to the association. “One of the things we will have there is our own building,” he said. “We’ll be able to have on-site meet- ings, an actual oce, a home phone for people to call and a full-time sta . We can sell signage on the property. It
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