Wisconsin State Fair Park



The Wisconsin State Fair Park is a fairgrounds and exhibition center in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis, Wisconsin. It has been the location of the Wisconsin State Fair since 1892. It also hosts other venues such as the Milwaukee Mile, the oldest continuously operating motor speedway in the world, and the Pettit National Ice Center, a U.S. Olympic training facility which is owned by the State of Wisconsin.

History
In 1891, the Wisconsin Agricultural Society purchased almost 100 acres (40 ha) of farmland from George Stevens, in what was then North Greenfield (Honey Creek settlement), in order to secure a permanent site for the Wisconsin State Fair. The fairgrounds later became a staging ground for Camp Harvey during the Spanish-American War and World Wars I and II. Two Wisconsin historical markers, which are positioned at the entrance of the Wisconsin Exposition Center, document this history for visitors.

The grounds of the State Fair, at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources park site, contain one of only two Indian effigy mounds remaining in Milwaukee County. (The other is located at Lake Park in Milwaukee.) Four pre-historic mounds originally populated the location, which were built by the Woodlands People from 100 to 1000 AD. They contained artifacts dating to 8000 BC, some of which can be found at the West Allis Historical Museum.

Wisconsin State Fair Park was also the location of a football stadium informally known as the Dairy Bowl. The stadium used the large main grandstand of the Milwaukee Mile ovel track, with the front straightaway of the track in between the stands and the field. It hosted the NFL's Green Bay Packers from 1934 to 1951 when the team played in Milwaukee. The 1939 NFL championship game was played here. In 1940 and 1941, the Dairy Bowl also served as the home of the Milwaukee Chiefs of the third American Football League.

On the 25-27 July 1969 the Midwest Rock Festival was held at the State Fair Park.