A County Fair in a Colonial Village

Historic Richmond Town runs its county fair for the forty sixth year, and the restored village turns into a fairground for the afternoon. Rides spin near the old courthouse, food trucks line the lanes, and craft stalls sit between the eighteenth century houses. Costumed tinsmiths and printers work their trades a few steps from the carnival games. Gates open Friday at noon, ahead of the weekend crowds.

I would carry one pen and start with the buildings, the clapboard walls and the courthouse columns behind the ride lights. A fair hands you fast subjects, a paper hat, a spun sugar cone, a kid caught mid spin on the swings. The colonial rooftops make a strange, wonderful frame for the carnival rides. Between sketches, the craft barns stay cool and quiet, good for a slower page of a spinning wheel or a forge.

The fair sits on the south end of Staten Island, reachable by the S74 bus from the ferry or a short hop from the Richmond Town stops. Friday afternoon stays calmer than the weekend, and the light softens by four. Pack a refillable bottle and a little cash, and the food trucks become the only real spend. Admission gets you into the village and the craft demonstrations. A sketchbook and one pen cost nothing to carry.