The Quiet Stars of the Fair

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Although animal rides, carnival music and zesty food are constants at the annual Long Island Fair, so is the architecture. A star at the fair -- which gets under way this weekend at the Old Bethpage Village Restoration and continues Oct. 14-17 -- is the main exhibit hall, where judges will bestow blue ribbons on handmade quilts and prize pumpkins. A version of the building was first built in 1866 on fairgrounds in Mineola (now the site of the Nassau County court complex). The structure cost $8,115.32 and was built by carpenter John Carpenter of Manhasset.

Today's fairgoers see a recreation of the building erected in 1994 at a cost of $1.2 million, according to Long Island Fair manager Ken Balcom. It was built in the shape of a Greek cross. The main tower ascends 65 feet.

Also at the fair is the superintendent's building, seen in the old photo at bottom left. The same building, carefully restored to preserve detail such as the gingerbread woodwork across the roof ridge, appears in the foreground of the modern-day photo on this page. Standing 8 feet wide and 16 feet long, it was built in 1884 and was used by the general manager Julian Udall, a member of the family that operated the Saddle Rock Grist Mill in Great Neck. Fairgoers can look inside at a desk, a ledger and paperwork from past fairs.