The 2022 Oneida County Fair is held annually at Pioneer Park in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. It was introduced to the citizens of Oneida County in August of 1896. It was also the year that famed writer, timber cruiser and hometown prankster Gene Shepard brought his mythical creature, the Hodag, from timber camp folklore to real life. For the price of one thin dime, the community got a peek at the creature that would soon become infamous - not just to the community but world-wide!
Over the years, the Fair has had several homes. It began in the early 1900s just east of town at a formally dedicated Fairgrounds, which doubled as the first Oneida County Airport. It later transferred to Lake Tomahawk, and then moved to the Hodag Country Festival grounds. Today, the Oneida County Fair has a new home among the towering pines of Pioneer Park. This Historical Complex is also the home of the country's oldest logging museum, a historic railroad depot built in 1892, a Civilian Conservation Corps museum, an early 1900s school house, an outboard motor museum, and a completely restored historical sawmill.
