The Fairbury Fair Corporation as we know it today was originally formed in January 1876 as The Fairbury Union Agricultural Board.  They purchased a 21-acre tract south of town as a location to host the first Fairbury Fair which was held in 1877 on the newly purchased fairgrounds.

The Fairbury Fair continued to prosper and in 1903 the board constructed a large covered grandstand structure out of cypress trees on the property.  It appears as though horse racing was the main attraction for the fairgoers until around 1916 when the fairboard decided to make some improvements to the facilities and started hosting a few amateur auto races.