(RALEIGH) -- With the 144th North Carolina State Fair underway, historian Paul Blakenship will unveil his exhibit featuring artifacts from past state fairs. While the current fairgrounds have attracted millions of visitors, Blakenship said the fair previously called two other Raleigh locations home.

When the fair started in 1853, it was designed to show farmers the latest in modern agricultural practices. "To that end, of course, they did manure, various crops, seeds and implements.  The plow had made huge strides in the 1800's, improvements in the method, the shape of how the plow turned the soil," said Blakenship.

Blakenship is in his 19th year producing an exhibit about the history of the North Carolina State Fair.