Arizona State Fairgrounds

The Arizona State Fairgrounds is a permanent fairgrounds on McDowell Road, Encanto Village, within the city of Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It is currently used yearly to host the Arizona State Fair and the Maricopa County Fair, as well as for other events.The Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum, an arena at the fairgrounds, hosted the Phoenix Suns of the National Basketball Association from 1968 to 1992. The team moved to the America West Arena in 1992.The dirt oval track hosted AAA National Championship and USAC National Championship races in 1915 and from 1950 to 1963, and NASCAR Grand National races in 1951, 1955, 1956 and 1960. It was replaced by the Phoenix International Raceway in 1964.HistoryThe fairgrounds was created in 1905, when a volunteer organization, the Arizona Territorial Fair Association, purchased the property and first developed it. At that time, Arizona was not yet a state and had territory status. In 1909, the grounds were purchased by the Territorial Fair Commission, which became the State Fair Commission after statehood in 1912.