Dr. Walters and the Fairgrounds
Every county in the South has a yearly Fair. It is is time of carnival rides, and food, and horse races, and mule pulls, and “home ec” competitions, which together create such wonderful memories! We take them for granted, never questioning their existence, but “someone” had to have the foresight to make them happen. And the first requirement is space enough for all the activities. In Graves County, it was Dr. Walter who provided that space.
The deed was recorded on June 4, 1948 and it says that “E.C. Walter and wife Geneva Walter have sold…to the Graves County War Memorial Association, Inc., for the purpose of being used only for a Fairground or Racetrack, or Childrens’ playground or Public Park…and should said land ever cease to be used for any of said purposes the title thereto shall at once revert to and be vested in” the Walters or their heirs. There was one other stipulation, that “a marker to be erected at some agreeable spot on the land conveyed with the following inscription therein, to-wit: ‘In honor of Effie Louisa Walter, mother of Dr. E. C. Walter.'”
The fairground was duly created sitting on the north side of Highway 121, north of Mayfield, and is the site of the yearly Graves County Fair. The marker was erected at the entrance to the fairgrounds and is still there today. In addition to the Fair, the Graves County Riding Club holds horse shows on the grounds every year from May to September. Also, horse barns on the fairgrounds are full, almost year round, of harness racing horses whose owners use the racetrack there for training.
Earle Charles Walter was a physician and the president of the Mayfield Hospital. He lived on North 18th Street and raised Saddlebred horses; the east side of the driveway leading to his barn lot was one of the boundaries of this conveyed property, as the current Highway 121 had not been built in 1948. Dr. Walter died in 1958 and is buried in Highland Park Cemetery, Mayfield.
(Information used to create this posting was found in the Deed Records of the Graves County Clerk, The 1949 Mayfield City Directory, Volume 5 of the Graves County Cemetery books published through the Graves County Historical Society, and personal observation at the fairgrounds.)