[1][3][4] The fairgrounds is centered at 23rd Ave between Main and Plum Street in Hutchinson, and consists of over 70 buildings on 280 acres (110 ha).

[2][8] On September 23–24, 1873, the society hosted a fair which was held in a small wooden livery stable behind the bank on the northwest corner of Sherman and Main in Hutchinson.

Though turned down, the Agricultural Society pushed ahead and found acreage southeast of where the state reformatory would later be located, paid cash for the grounds, and on September 28–30 of 1875, presented the First Annual Reno County Fair.

It was decided for bonds to pay for this new land was put to a vote by Reno County voters in April 1913, and won by a margin of 4 to 1.

[2] A bill was passed in the Kansas legislature to grant Hutchinson fair monetary support in exchange for the city giving the state the fairgrounds.

One thousand feet of water-filled channels featured boats which promised to transport passengers through "gloomy caves of gleesome gladness".

The state fair grandstand hosts events every evening, with concerts, a demolition derby, auto races, and truck / tractor pulls.

[1] In 2021, an insect collection submitted by a 4-H member attracted national attention because it included an invasive, non-native spotted lanternfly, which had not previously been identified in the state.

[17] The boy had correctly labeled the insect in his collection, and the fair's judges, who recognized its significance, informed state and federal agricultural officials about its existence.