THE GRANGE FAIR: AN AMERICAN TRADITION examines this celebrated event, which brings nearly 10,000 families and farmers from across the country to Centre Hall, Pennsylvania, each year. The Grange Fair is believed to be the last real encampment fair in existence. Originally conceived in 1874 as a one-day picnic to introduce rural Pennsylvania farmers and their families to the Grange organization, the fair has grown to become the backbone for the shrinking rural and agricultural communities of Pennsylvania and beyond.