Grays Harbor County Fair

Highway 8 runs west out of Olympia for 27 miles to the first Elma exit, and the fairgrounds signs start there. Elma sits in the Chehalis River Valley, about midway between the waters of Grays Harbor and Puget Sound. The Grays Harbor County Fairgrounds is on Elma-McCleary Road. It covers 68 acres, with 15 major buildings and barns, two outdoor stages, 1,200 parking spaces, and a race track and grandstand. For four days each summer the county fair fills the grounds. The 2026 fair ran July 29 through August 1.

Four nights in late July

Each evening of the 2026 fair had its own headliner. Chayce Beckham played Wednesday. Thursday’s concert was free: Ayron Jones and Foovana, with Krist Novoselic as special guest. Sara Evans played Friday. On Saturday the Radical Revolution 80s Party Band closed the fair, also free. On the track, IMCA Modifieds, Super Stocks and Hornets raced.

The days had a different program. The livestock shows ran through the fair. The fair’s schedule notes that barns, exhibits and displays stay open all day whether or not anything is scheduled in them. The Kids Zone was in the Pavilion Exhibit Hall. Leapin’ Louie put on a comedy stunt show, Alex Zerbe performed as “The Zaniac,” and the Northwest Wildlife Sanctuary gave animal shows. There were also the Pacific Northwest Unicorns, a Bigfoot Bae meet-and-greet, and an America 250 exhibit presented by the VFW.

The carnival opened at 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 1:00 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, and noon on Saturday. It ran until 10:00 each night and until 11:00 on Saturday, when wristbands were sold in two sessions split at five o’clock. The fair’s pages give the number of food vendors two ways: “more than 40” on the schedule page and “30+” in the list of highlights. On the last two days of the fair, July 31 and August 1, the Elma Chamber of Commerce held its Heat on the Street street dance and car and motorcycle show.

The Grays Harbor County Fair Board manages the fair. For 2026/27 it has ten members, with David Wyatt as chair.

Swap meets and the Dog Barn

The grounds are open the rest of the year as well. They hold dog and cat shows, racing at the Grays Harbor Raceway, equestrian and rodeo events, camping, and the National Sprint Car tour. The first swap meet of the 2026/27 season was held the weekend of October 3 and 4, 2026. All vendor spaces were sold, and entry and parking were free. One of the fair-time food vendors ran the concession stand. Swap meets are scheduled monthly through April 2027.

The Borden Seabert Exhibition Building is known locally as the “Dog Barn.” In September 2026, Pavilion Coordinator Maia Whitehorn spoke there about the fairgrounds to the Showcase Grays Harbor tour of East County. Other buildings include meeting rooms, reception halls, and the Centerville Western Stores Indoor Arena.

Some of the barns are older than they look. Revisiting Washington, the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation’s tour of the state, stops here on its Olympia-to-Hoquiam leg. It notes that the buildings of a CCC camp stand next to the race track and grandstand and are still used by the fairgrounds. The same entry says seed growing and shipping was becoming a local industry in the 1940s, that a dairy plant of some size was operating, and that a 4-H fair is still held here every year.

The fourth annual fair and the first trains

Elma incorporated on March 22, 1888. At the time it was in Chehalis County, which was renamed Grays Harbor County in 1915. HistoryLink and the City of Elma both place the first Chehalis County Fair in Elma in 1886. The city describes it as a place where local farmers could share techniques and show livestock. In 2020 the Fair Board gave a different date, calling the fair “a time-honored event, dating back to 1889.”

HistoryLink describes the 1889 fair in detail. Before that year, the only routes between Puget Sound and Grays Harbor were rough wagon roads, and the trip generally took two days or more. In 1889 the Port Blakely Mill Company extended its logging railroad as the Puget Sound and Grays Harbor line. By September 25, 1889, passenger trains from Kamilche were running at least as far as Elma. That day was the opening of the fourth annual Chehalis County Fair, held at fairgrounds on the east side of Elma. The new line sold discounted tickets to fair-goers, and speakers at the fair celebrated the arrival of the train. When the line was finished that November, it ran 24 miles from Kamilche to Montesano.

A button collection in 1941

At some point the county fair lapsed. On September 15, 1941, County Agent Arthur Kulin announced that there would be an effort to revive Grays Harbor’s county fair the following year. He made the announcement after what he called a “very good and satisfactory 4-H club fair” held that weekend at the Elma fairgrounds, and he said its 1,600 paid admissions showed interest in a revival. At the hobby show held with the club fair, patrons voted Harry Bird’s button collection into first place. The Clark model planes came second and the Newton gun collection third.

According to HistoryLink, nationally known performers have played the fair over the years, among them Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash, and Tim McGraw. Most of the work behind the fair has been done by local volunteers. Wayne Hensley of Aberdeen raised chickens, pheasants, quail and doves, and was president of the Washington Feather Fanciers for more than 50 years. He also served on the Fair Board and was a 4-H leader for 25 years. Phyllis Piercey was Grays Harbor County Auditor until she retired in 1989. Afterward she volunteered for the fair and many other organizations, and the 2001 fair was dedicated to her.

On May 19, 2020, the Fair Board and fairgrounds staff cancelled that year’s fair. They wrote: “It is with great sadness that due to the COVID-19 public health situation and safety measures put in place by the Washington State Governor; our Fair Board and Staff, along with the support of the County COVID-19 Response Team and Board of County Commissioners, has made the decision to cancel the 2020 Grays Harbor County Fair.”

In its place, 4-H volunteers organized a Virtual 4-H Showcase for July. Members logged in, chose their classes, and uploaded photos, documents and video links. Along with their animal projects, they could enter photography, gardening, art and poetry. Judging was to be finished in early August.