FAIRFIELD – The Carnegie Historical Museum in Fairfield hosted a Chamber Business After Hours Thursday, Aug. 10.

The event gave the museum a chance to show off its new exhibits that have been created in the past couple of years. One of the highlights was a booth dedicated to the first Iowa State Fair, held in Fairfield in 1854.

Gloria Countryman, president of the Carnegie Museum Foundation that spearheaded the event, said she was very pleased with the turnout and the comments she heard from the public.

“Everybody was surprised at what they could see, and how much the museum has changed,” she said. “People were amazed at all that happened in Fairfield in the early days.”

Museum director Lawrence Eyre was in charge of the booth dedicated to the first state fair. Countryman said Eyre was so pleased to meet people with firsthand knowledge of the horse-drawn caravans that were led from Fairfield to Des Moines to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the state fair in 1954, and again in 2005 to celebrate the 150th anniversary.

Dave Neff, a member of the public relations committee for the Carnegie Historical Museum, said he and Joe Hunt were responsible for keeping a head count on all the people who came through the museum that day, and that number was 163.

“We were very pleased with the turnout,” Neff said. “Our only other barometer was when we did the Business After Hours a couple of years ago. It was the first time we had been open in awhile, and we had over 250 people for that.”

Neff said the main comments he heard from residents who visited the museum were about how much they appreciated some of the new displays like the one on local business and industries, which is now highlighting The Nelson Company, and the display dedicated to the county’s Heritage Farms, which have been in the same family for 150 years or more. That display changes every month.

“We’re trying to set up another 1-2 display cases that will rotate every three months, so we can have more variety coming through,” Neff said.

In addition to the museum’s usual displays, guests had the chance to participate in a scavenger hunt and trivia. The museum hosted a few “old time crafters” that showed various trades such as basket-weaving, leather-working and spinning. Guests also got to fill their bellies at the food truck, Delicious Expressions.

One of the crafters who set up outside the museum was Stuart Holmes of Holmes Leather Crafting in Bonaparte. Holmes showed off his assortment of belts, wallets, key fobs, purses, harnesses and much more, all of which he does by hand. Holmes said he got into leather-working 25 years ago when he couldn’t find a good belt, so he began making them himself, and now does it fulltime.

“My belts have a five-year warranty,” he said. “I’m trying to put Walmart out of business.”

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com