Vernon's Track Sits on an Old Fairground Story

Vernon has a fairground thread running through it, but the story starts with creek country. The town was formed from parts of Augusta and Westmoreland, with Oneida Creek on one side and Skanandoa Creek on the other. Those creeks were not just scenery. Vernon history points to mills, tanneries, a distillery, and other early work that used waterpower.

The road story adds another layer. The Genesee Trail helped Vernon develop, and later the route became the Seneca Turnpike toll road. That helps explain why a rural Oneida County place could become a crossroads town instead of just a farming pocket.

Then the gathering place shifted toward fairs and racing. The Village of Vernon was incorporated in 1827, and the Vernon Fair began around 1848 on the Mt. Vernon Presbyterian Church lawn. Later, the fair moved to the grounds where Vernon Downs is now. The last fair there was held in 1952.

That makes Vernon Downs feel less like a track dropped onto the map and more like the latest chapter in an older public-gathering habit. People came for fairs before they came for harness racing. They followed creek roads, turnpike routes, village errands, and event days.

Vernon keeps all those pieces close together: waterpower, fertile land, a turnpike route, a village center, an old fairground, and a racing landmark. That is a sturdy local story for a place that can look quiet until you notice how many people have been passing through, gathering, and watching horses there for a long time.