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Ship's Landing Park and Frigate
Bridgewater Exhibition Building
There are oxen and horses and tractors and people and
more people, and they all come together for fun and games and competitions every
year and it is called THE BIG EX. They have been doing this since 1891 when the
first exhibition took place in the Drill Shed, organized by the Bridgewater
Agricultural Society with George H Burkett as president and, with a few
exceptions, they have been doing it ever since for 107 years. During the next few years, seven
acres of land were purchased and an exhibition building was built with a high
cupola from which you could see for miles around. It had a central hall with
large rooms on each side, a large main floor and a gallery all around. Along the
outside fences there were covered stalls for livestock and a bunkhouse for the
exibitors. About 2,500 people visited the first year. There was a big fire in 1928 which destroyed all of these buildings except the horse barn, but it never dampened the enthusiasm of the Society and in 1929 a new exhibition building and a dairy barn were up, but the fruits and vegetables etc. Had to be shown in a rented tent brought in from Ontario? More land was needed and 25 acres were bought to accommodate grand stands around the rings, a place for trailers owned by the exhibitors, poultry and 4 –H barns, a kitchen and dinning room and more barns for livestock. All told, it now covers 45 acres at the original location on Dufferin Street. Typed by Nicole
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Send mail to tonyeisn@ ontario.enoreo.on.ca with
questions or comments about this web site.
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