Monday, June 24, 2019
Woody LeBounty entertained a full house at SHARP with the history of the Midwinter Fair of 1894.
The fair was conceived by Michael DeYoung (museum founder) during a period of economic downturn in San Francisco. 
The Colombian Exhibition in Chicago had ended and He figured that a fair in San Francisco would bring business and status to the city. The idea was put forth in July of 1893.
Construction began in August and the fair opened January 27th with any attractions were still under construction when the fair opened. The fair was based around what is now the music concourse. Originally it was suppose to take up 60 acres, but by the time it was open it took up 160 acres.
We still have evidence of the fair in the Music Concourse area of the park. The deYoung Museum started as the Fine Arts Museum in the for the fair and Japanese Tea Garden was Japan’s exhibit. There is a memorial statue and plaque in front of the Museum and one can even see benches that were from the fair distributed around the Concourse.
The fair closed on July 4th of 1894 but it took some time for everything to be removed.