The Nation's Oldest State Fair was officially first held in 1849, only twelve years after Michigan attained statehood. At the onset it was customary, in fact, for the fair to be held one year in one city, the next year in another, and there was always a hot contest to be the city selected. The Michigan State Fair settled down at the present fairgrounds in 1905. The following chronology shows the State Fair's migrations from its inception:

Joseph L. Hudson, founder of a Detroit area leading department store, together with three of his associates decided to give the State Fair a permanent home and formed the State Fair Land Company in October, 1904. By February 28, 1905, this company, through three separate transactions, had acquired the land between 7 1/2 and 8 Mile Roads, east of Woodward Avenue. The area was truly rural then, farmland some seven miles from Detroit's City Hall and far beyond the populated streets of the city.

Hudson had no interest in running the Fair, he simply wanted it to have a home and so sold his 135 acres to the Michigan State Agricultural Society for one dollar on April 18, 1905. The Agricultural Society accepted the land then purchased an additional 32 acres, extending the fairgrounds to 167 acres and produced the State Fair from 1905 through 1920. Throughout the following years, additional land was purchased and sold.  The present size of the fairgrounds is 164 acres.

At a special meeting of the Executive Board of the Society on January 17, 1921, a resolution was passed authorizing the transfer of the fairgrounds to the State of Michigan. On March 22, 1921, the state Legislature formally passed a bill approving the transfer and placing control of the lands and buildings under the Michigan Department of Agriculture. The bill also created a board of managers to operate the annual Fair. This was the beginning of the era of dual occupancy of the fairgrounds by State agencies.

In 1956, Public Act 100 terminated this dual control and created the Michigan State Fair Commission. The Commission was superseded by the Michigan State Fair Authority in 1962, but following the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1965, the State Fair became a separate division within the Department of Agriculture. In 1978, Public Act 361, which assigned responsibility stated, "The Department shall conduct an annual State Fair and other exhibits or events for the purpose of promoting all phases of the economy of this State. This Fair and exhibits or events shall encourage and demonstrate agricultural, industrial, commercial, and recreational pursuits."  Also in 1978, oversight of the State Fair was moved to the Department of Natural Resources. In 1994 the State Fair division was transferred to the Department of Commerce now known as the Department of Consumer and Industry Services. The State Fair reverted back to the Department of Agriculture in 1997.  

The present site of the Fair was dedicated as State Historic Site #172 on August 29, 1958.  The official State marker reads as follows:

The role of the Fair in abetting the agricultural development of the State is significant, to say the least. The Fair has provided a forum for agriculture interest since the very beginning of farming in Michigan; it was a source of inspiration for farmers to improve the quality of their product, and it has always been a valued recreational outlet for the farming community. Particularly significant has been the inspiration and incentive it has provided for young people from farms to continue the farming way of life. It is impossible to say how many farmers or farmers' children have been inspired to do a better job, or use improved methods or machinery as a result of visiting the Fair, but they must be legion. It has endured as an institution in Michigan agriculture because it has served an important purpose and played an interesting and useful role for more than one-and-a-half centuries.