 The opening speaker of the 1878 Delaware State Fair was Daniel Henry Chamberlain, former Republican Governor of South Carolina, as well as guest speakers J. Proctor Knott, at the time a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives representing Kentucky's 4th congressional district, and Samuel S. Cox, then Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives representing New York's 6th congressional district.In 1917, the state fair moved to Elsmere where the Delaware State Fair Association had purchased property and built a fairgrounds within the town limits, in the area of the current Filbert, Birch, and Dover Avenues.The fairgrounds included racetracks, agricultural exhibits, and stages for various entertainment acts.