1949 Alabama State Fair

The 1949 Alabama State Fair was a State Fair opened on October 3. 1949 . It was the third fair staged by the Alabama State Fair Authority at the Alabama State Fairgrounds, a 117-acre tract which was purchased and developed by the City of Birmingham in 1947.

The general manager was Dick McIntosh. The fair featured performances by entertainers such as Bob Helton and his Blue Ridge Mountain Boys and Rebe and Rabe and the Sunny Valley Boys. Mary Pharr Lathram of Bessemer was crowned Miss Alabama Queen of Cotton at the fair and went on to represent Jefferson County in the "Maid of Cotton" pageant in Memphis, Tennessee.

The dairy and beef cattle exhibits made their debut in a new Alabama State Fair cattle barn, constructed for $100,000. The cattle competed for about $15,000 in prizes.