Grafton Marsh Bosley hosted a series of contests and a ball to benefit yellow fever sufferers at his property north of Towson.

[5] The New York Times reported that on October 14, 1870, President Rutherford B. Hayes would go to Frederick to attend the "Maryland State Fair.

Their success in Lutherville, however, gave the operators resolve to establish an annual fair, and in December 1878, they incorporated as the Agricultural Society of Baltimore County.

The Northern Central Railroad, the reason behind the closure of the Lutherville Fair, was now the primary source of transportation for fairgoers from Baltimore City to the south to the Timonium Fairgrounds during the rest of the century.

Other fairgoers walked or rode horses, wagons, carriages, and carts to the fairgrounds using the Turnpike and its southern end of Greenmount Avenue.

The early years at the Fair saw tents and wooden structures in use to exhibit home arts, farm and garden products, and livestock shows.

Food concessions consisted of sandwiches made by the farmers’ wives, and amusements involved sideshows, sack races, and greased pole climbing.

In the ensuing controversy, however, a group of agriculturists, business leaders, horsemen, and bankers formed the "Save the Maryland State Fair Committee."

The committee was successful in convincing the public and the state legislature in the Maryland General Assembly of the value in keeping thoroughbred racing a part of the fair.

The committee also prepared expansion plans for the fair, which resulted in a $5 million grant from the State of Maryland for building, modernization, and year-round use of the fairgrounds.

[The judges] will be looking for a lot of knowledge in all the diversities of agriculture and the Maryland Farm Bureau throughout their policies and many programs that they offer for farmers and other agriculturalists.