In 1884, the Cumberland County Agricultural Association, with the aid of several men from Gray, held a fair at Gray Corner. At this fair the Town Hall was used for exhibition purposes, and horse races were run on the Shaker Road from Will Merrill’s house to the Corner. The Merrill house is the brick house about one-half mile from the Corner. It was built by Henry Thayer and is now occupied by Frederick Giggey. The fair was a great success and, as a result, the Gray Park Association was organized for the purpose of holding similar events annually. As soon as it was organized, the Association bought from William Lowe, twenty-five acres of land on the northeastern side of the Shaker Road just above the Baptist Church and built a half-mile race track with a covered grandstand and a judges stand. An exhibition hall, which later became the Grange Hall, and an entrance gate were constructed, and another building, that is now Richard Day’s home, was moved to the grounds from its site on the New Portland Road at the Corner to serve as a dining hall. Everything was ready in 1885, and the Park Association held its first fair that year. Following this, fairs were held each year by the Association through 1902. The Gray Park Association was then dissolved and the grounds were sold.
For some years after this, the fairground was used for a baseball field, and an open grandstand was built beside the diamond. Occasionally, the property was used for other purposes. One memorable event was a carnival held there, billed as “The Dog Show.” The carnival company brought, on one of its wagons, a large generator powered by a gasoline engine and with sufficient power to light the grounds brilliantly. There were a large number of wonderfully trained dogs. In one act, a small dog climbed a guyed vertical ladder unassisted to a platform fifty feet from its foot and, upon command, jumped to a large tub of water on the ground… The author has never talked with anyone that saw this carnival who did not remember it.
The land that had been the Gray Park Association’s fairground was finally developed as house lots. It is now the site of homes and the school on Grange and Park Streets.
History, Records, and Recollections of Gray Maine
George T. Hill, 1978
43.8894762, -70.3320488
