2017 Spencer Comprehensive Land Use Plan

Spencer, Iowa  2017  Comprehensive Plan

side remains today. More than 30,000 people attended the first fair, making it the largest county fair held in Iowa that year. From the first fair, the Clay County Fair Association has attempted to enhance the fair by trying to make it better every year. By 1928 the fair in Spencer was seeing attendance of more than 110,000 people. Since then, the Clay County Fair has been known as “The World’s Greatest County Fair”. Today, the fair attracts more than 300,000 people annually. On June 27 th , 1931, one of the most noteworthy events in Spencer’s history occurred; a major disaster known as the Spencer Fire of 1931. The fire started in a downtown drug store when a local child dropped a lit sparkler into other fireworks. The fire spread from the drug store and carried throughout

most of downtown Spencer. The devastating fire consumed more than 50 downtown stores across several blocks. Calls were sent out for help to all surrounding communities, including a message sent to Des Moines asking for dynamite and their fire chief. Without these calls for help, the town of Spencer would have been completely engulfed in flames and burned, much like downtown. Fire departments from all over the region responded to the calls for help, including Des Moines. Within hours after the initial ignition of the fire, the massive blaze was finally brought under control by placing dynamite in the building of a dry-cleaning business to cease the spread of the fire. However, by that time the extent of damage done in downtown Spencer was beyond comprehension to the residents. The estimated cost of damages to the area totaled almost $2 million dollars in 1931. With that stated, there is always an unseen benefit. Within a year of the fire, amid the Great Depression, every building within the downtown district had been rebuilt in the 1930s era Art Deco architectural style and Spencer’s Main Street had been repaired and repaved. This sense of determination and civic minded spirit flourished with Spencer’s merchants and residents and resulted in a rebuilt business district that is one of the most attractive downtowns in Iowa today.

Historic aerial photo of the 1931 fire in downtown Spencer.

Historic photo of the 1931 fire in downtown Spencer

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NW Iowa Planning & Development