Whether you are a new or a lifetime resident of the Lehigh Valley, you will discover many things about The Great Allentown Fair in Kelly Ann Butterbaugh’s new book, “Images of America: Allentown Fairgrounds” (127 pages; Arcadia Publishing; paperback $24.99, 2025)

“I went into this project thinking I knew a lot about the Fair, but I learned a lot,” Butterbaugh says in a phone interview from her home in Upper Saucon Township.

She was asked to write the book in 2014 by Daryl Urmy, president of Lehigh County Agricultural Society, the nonprofit owner and operator of the Fairgrounds and the Fair.

The Great Allentown Fair is back for the 173rd edition, through Sept. 1, Allentown Fairgrounds, west of 17th Street between Liberty and Chew Streets, Allentown.

Butterbaugh signd copies of her book at 5 p.m. Aug. 29 in the Agri-Plex at the Fair and will talk about her book, 3:15 p.m. Sept. 1, Centennial Stage, Agri-Plex.

“They wanted to put out something for the Fair’s 175th anniversary,” she says, “which will be two years from now.”

The book has photographs from the Fair’s beginnings to present-day, accompanied by lengthy descriptions.

“The Fair has changed a lot as the area has changed, reflective of the people in the area and the community. Agriculture has taken a step back, as there is less farming here,” says Butterbaugh.

“The main attractions have gone from horses, to cars, and now to becoming a concert venue. While other Fairs stuck to their same formulas, the Allentown Fair has changed with the times,” she says.

Dan Patch holds the Fair’s record for an event there with attendance of 80,000, set in 1905. Dan Patch was a horse. Harness racing was a main draw at the Grandstand.

In 1920, the horse was “the king of the fair.” Horses were later overshadowed by automobile races, stunt-driving thrill shows and demolition derbies. The J&J Demolition Derby concludes the Far, Sept. 1.

The book has many photos of the Midway with tightrope and aerial acts, tigers and other animals, and notorious “hootchy-kootchy” dancers.

The Fair has been presented almost every year, except during wartime, since its founding in 1852. In 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown, there was a Food Truck Festival.

“The organization volunteered to give up its property during wartime,” Butterbaugh says.

The Fair was suspended in 1862 because of the Civil War.

There is a chapter in the book about how the Allentown Fairgrounds became the site of Camp Crane, the base of the U.S. Army Ambulance Corps, from May 1917 to April 1919. As depicted in the photographs, many of the Fairgrounds buildings and its grounds were adapted for military use. Portions of the Grandstand were converted to barracks, and the racetrack and infield were utilized as a marching field.

Butterbaugh is a lifelong resident of the Lehigh Valley. “I’ve always lived within a five-mile radius of Center Valley,” she says.

She has been teaching English in the Salisbury Township School District since 1997, for 14 years at Salisbury Middle School, before transferring to Salisbury High School in 2011.

She received a Masters in Secondary English Education from DeSales University and a BA in English from Moravian College.

Her first memory of the Allentown Fair is seeing and petting the cows. When she was younger, she entered drawings, cross-stitching and handcrafts in the Fair’s exhibition contests. She took some of the photographs in the book of the Agri-Plex exhibition area.

Butterbaugh says the Lehigh County Agricultural Society did not have enough of the high-quality photographs needed for the book. She called many families for help. Last year at the Fair, she handed out cards asking for pictures. The Lehigh County Historical Society provided photographs for the book.

Many celebrities who were at the Allentown Fair Grandstand are shown in the book’s photographs, including Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Cher, Steve Martin, Kenny Rogers, Liza Minnelli, The Captain and Tennille, and the Osmond Family. The Osmonds performed at the Fair so often they were made honorary Allentown residents.

According to a 2025 economic impact study by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, the Allentown Fair has an estimated attendance of 167,300 and an economic impact of $62.5 million, supporting more than 600 jobs with more than $22 million in earnings.

For Arcadia Publishing, Butterbaugh has also written “Images of America: Upper Saucon Township and Coopersburg,” “Southern Lehigh Through Time” and “Lehigh County (Then and Now),” and for White Mane Kids, “Hey, History Isn’t Boring Anymore! A Creative Approach to Teaching the Civil War.”

“Literary Scene” is a column about authors, books and publishing. To request coverage, email: Paul Willistein, Focus editor, pwillistein@tnonline.com