The County Fairgrounds Collection consists of materials pertaining to the County Fair and Fairgrounds ranging from 1939 to 2009. These materials include: Fairgrounds' Board meeting minutes, financial reports, programs, premium lists, administrative files, photographs, slides, negatives, video and audio tapes, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, blueprints, press kits/books, Fairgrounds publications, Senior Expo records, and ephemera.

The Santa Clara County Fairgrounds has held the annual county fair since 1941. While a fair was held in San Jose during the late nineteenth century, Santa Clara County did not have a fair during the early 1900s, despite the county's prominence in agriculture and livestock. Therefore the Santa Clara Valley Fair Association was created in 1937 in order to create a fair. On October 28, 1940 the County Board of Supervisors purchased the 97 acre Macomber Ranch on Tully Road for $35,000 from H. Kirk Macomber. On March 12, 1941 the County authorized the renamed Santa Clara County Fair Association to run the fair.

Approximately 65 cubic feet

The Archives can claim physical ownership only for some collections. Users are responsible for securing permission of the copyright holder for publication or quotation.

Collection is open for research.