The Finch Formerly Known As Gold

19 September 2006

And then along came Jones

Charles Graham Jones, who served two terms as Mayor of Oklahoma City (1896-97, 1901-03), is honored as the Father of the Oklahoma State Fair in a Centennial retrospective by Doug Loudenback.

From the Daily Oklahoman, 6 January 1907, Jones makes his pitch:

"The establishment of a great state fair in Oklahoma is imperative and now is the opportune time," said C. G. Jones yesterday when asked as to the outlook for such an institution.

"A state fair is not a local affair, but is of interest to all people of the state. Oklahoma City is the logical selection on account of the location and the admirable railroad facilities to enable the patrons to reach the fair."

Asked if he would become a stockholder in an association if such were organized, Mr. Jones replied:

"Yes, I will take considerable stock if the business men of this city will get behind the proposition and push it to completion, for a fair is of vital importance, not only to the business interests but in a larger way to the agriculturists, horticulturists and stock raisers of the new state."

With the 100th State Fair of Oklahoma now underway, it's time to give Mr Jones his due:

I've not found anything calling Charles G. Jones the "founder", "benefactor", or other title of the Oklahoma State Fair in Oklahoma City. Yet, from what I've read in the Daily Oklahoman, it is safe to say that, today, when ... eating your corn dogs and/or going vertical on the space needle, it would do you no harm for you to say, "Thanks, C.G. Jones, to you and your associates, for making this fine day in State Fair Park, possible."

Indeed. I looked around my place for references to Mr Jones, and turned up this, from a fall 2004 Spottings:

The little westside Mexican restaurant called Zacatecas has been replaced by a little westside Mexican restaurant called Red Onion, whose owners are very likely unaware of a highly-dissimilar establishment with the same name that existed here in the 90s. The 1890s, that is; the Red Onion of the Oklahoma Territory days was a notorious "disorderly house," if you will, that was a primary target for the administration of Mayor Charles G. "Gristmill" Jones, who took office in 1896 pledging to clean up this wild and woolly town. (Among other things, Jones, who really did own a mill, was the president of the Oklahoma Territorial Fair Association, predecessor to the present-day Oklahoma State Fair; the city of Jones, northeast of town, is named for him.)

And this, in turn, gives me an opportunity to point to all of Doug Loudenback's historical material, which is an invaluable resource for those who'd like to know just how it is Oklahoma City has come so far — and where it came from in the first place.

Posted at 2:10 PM to City Scene


Sorry--everybody knows (well, everybody in my house) that Henry Overholser, my great-great-great uncle, was the father of the Oklahoma State Fair. But you're right about Loudenback's site--it's great fun for a history buff.

Posted by: Mark at 3:47 PM on 19 September 2006

Let us not minimize the contributions of the Overholsers. I dug into Roy P. Stewart's Born Grown and found this interesting bit:

"Ed Overholser, with his father [Henry] and others, also was a prime mover for a state fair. He bought enough lots on Northeast Seventh Street leading to the selected fairgrounds on North Eastern, to assure that fifty percent of property owners could sign petitions to improve the street surface and secure extension of the street railway to the grounds in 1907."

Not an inconsiderable contribution, that.

Nor this:

"Early in the statehood year that energetic promoter, C. G. "Gristmill" Jones, sold a number of persons on the idea of a permanent fair. [The Territorial Fair, which Jones headed, began in 1893 and continued until 1907.] The first campaign for funds resulted in but $17,000 when $100,000 was needed to purchase 160 acres of land (including a small lake) on ground at Northeast Tenth Street and North Eastern Avenue. At the time it was one mile outside the city limits. The Katy ran shuttle trains there on a fifteen-minute schedule the first year or so, before the street railway could lay track to the site. Henry Overholser put more money into the original fair plant construction than anyone else."

Jones was first president of the fair board; Ed Overholser was the secretary. Attendance that first year, says Stewart, was 75,000.

Posted by: CGHill at 9:42 PM on 19 September 2006

Thanks for the nice words, CG!

I certaininly intended no slight of the Overholsers (either father or son) ... I just didn't find data linking them to the State Fair when doing my internet and other research for the post.

Posted by: Doug Loudenback at 1:15 AM on 20 September 2006