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HISTORY OF THE COW PALACE
Since opening in 1941, the Cow Palace has welcomed 50 million visitors through its doors. The Cow Palace is officially the 1-A District Agricultural Association, a State agency of the California Department of Food and Agriculture's Division of Fairs and Expositions.
The idea for what was to become the Cow Palace was born at the 1915 Pan-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. When the fair's huge livestock exposition proved to be one of its most popular attractions, local business leaders met and resolved to build a permanent structure to house a great animal livestock exposition in San Francisco.
For ten years after the Pan-Pacific Expo, the idea lay dormant. In 1925, the San Francisco Exposition Company was formed to finance the project. Nineteen firms and individuals each contributed $20,000, and the land was purchased in the Marina District, the site of the 1915 fair.
A legislative appropriation of $250,000 was passed in 1931. This appropriation was to be used in part to purchase a suitable site. However, as the depression of the 1930's worsened, resistance developed to using public funds for construction of a livestock pavilion. The economy was in a state of shock. Millions were unemployed. A local newspaper asked, "Why, when people are starving, should money be spent on a "palace for cows?" A headline writer turned the phrase around, hence the origin of the world famous name.
Twenty years after the inception, and a change from the original site, the first spadeful of dirt was turned. Through the W.P.A. Program, the construction of the Cow Palace put to work thousands of the unemployed.
The Cow Palace was completed in 1941. The new arena boasted a concrete and steel roof that covered nearly six acres. The first event to be held in the new arena was the Western Classic Holstein Show in April, 1941. In November of that year, the first Grand National Rodeo was held, featuring a tribute to the late Will Rogers. The show was declared a smash hit.
