Butte County Fair

The Butte County Fair is held on the county fairgrounds on Park Road in Arco. These are also the county rodeo grounds, and the arena faces a long white wooden grandstand. The University of Idaho Extension and 4-H run the fair with the Butte County Fair Board. Its own description lists “4-H projects, livestock shows, open class projects and fun for all ages.” Exhibitors’ animals are kept in stalls and cages on the grounds. The 2026 fair ran August 3–8. The Extension’s list of events for 2026 included a fair rodeo, a “Kideo Rodeo” for children, a motor sport rodeo, team branding, and an interview contest.

The fair is one of several events held in front of the grandstands each year. In 2026 the Arco High School Rodeo used the fairgrounds on May 1 and 2, and moto-cross races ran there on the afternoon of July 4. The Idaho Heritage Trust names the Atomic Days rodeo as another regular event, and more recently the ATV races. The Trust also notes that the stands draw travelers who are stopping by Craters of the Moon.

A WPA grandstand on Park Road

The sources do not agree on when the grandstands were built. The Idaho Heritage Trust says 1938, paid for with a grant from the Works Progress Administration, one of President Roosevelt’s Depression relief programs. The grandstands’ own page says 1934 and also credits the WPA. According to the Trust, Arco received New Deal money for its recreation building, the grandstands, and a few other local projects. The recreation hall was built in 1937–38 as a gymnasium. WPA masons made it from basalt, which could not be cut into regular blocks. They mortared irregular stones together and traced thin seams into the mortar so the stones would look tightly fitted. On June 8, 1948, President Harry S. Truman greeted the people of Arco from that building’s front steps.

The grandstands came through the 6.9 earthquake of 1983. By the 2020s the footings under the walkway were broken and crumbling.

New footings in the summer of 2022

The Fair Board raised the money in 2022: Chris Smith, Shawn Williams, Sandie Smith, Dan Hawkin, and Paul Wanstrom. In February they raffled a whole beef, cut and wrapped, donated by the PU Ranch. Mike Greene won it on a ticket that Dan Hawkins sold. The Atomic Days Rodeo gave money toward the work. The Idaho Heritage Trust gave grants in 2021 and 2022, and the CHC Foundation gave $10,000. The CHC application was written by Cheri Pearson, and Crystal Ross wrote later applications. Smaller gifts came from local businesses and from families, including one made in memory of four people.

Work began in May. As people drove past, the grandstands’ page answered the question it kept hearing: “We are NOT tearing down these beautiful grandstands we are RESTORING them.” An engineer inspected the footings. Timber River Contractors of Challis took down the old walkway. Sunroc then cleared out the old concrete and poured a new stem wall, and its crew, led by Calvin Beard with Rock Wellard and Bud Cammack, finished the concrete in mid-June. Travis Todd and Jeff Nunes of Timber River then built the new walkway, replaced worn boards, and added a ramp on one side. The page posted a photograph believed to date from the 1950s, though nobody knew the woman in it or the year. It showed that the new walkway followed the original almost exactly. “We are keeping her white too!” the page added. Sandie Smith stayed on site through the work and photographed each stage.

On June 26 volunteers took down an old tree that had begun to damage the stands, and Kirby Jensen brought his skid steer. The page noted: “Sad it takes a tree years to grow and it took us hour and half from start to finish.” The stairs, ramp, and railing were finished by June 29. On July 8 the page reported the grandstands painted and standing on new footings, with a new walkway.

The roof and the cook shack

The work was finished in time for the Atomic Days Rodeo that July, and the page posted a picture of the stands behind the Atomic Days Queens and the flag crew. “Nothing to me is more beautiful than those beautiful American Flags waving in the wind in front of those grandstands!!” it read.

The project had cost more than expected, so it was split into two stages. The second stage covered the roof and a touch-up coat of paint. In December 2022 the page reported that the dry wood “kinda just sucked the first coat right up.” The Idaho Heritage Trust gave $14,000 toward this stage, and Timber River was hired again. The organizers hoped to finish by spring, or at least by the first high school rodeo in May. The page also named one more aim: “Our long term goal with her is to also get that old cook shack back up and running as well!”