There was no lack of cultural and entertainment goings‑on in Foster County from the very earliest days. An "Opera House" built in Carrington in the late 1890's was the center for these activities until it burned down in 1912. There were all types of dramatic performances and variety shows playing at least once a week, amateur theatricals, concerts, lyceum series, lectures, school exercises and political meetings besides dances and masquerades. A traveling Chatauqua spent a week in town every summer beginning in 1914 continuing into the 1930's. Medicine and other tent shows came too, even "Uncle Tom's Cabin." Circuses came often, but not every summer.
The first city band was organized in 1896 and continued with a few interruptions until these activities were taken over by the High School Band. The city band gave concerts and played every Saturday night in the summer in the bandstand in the little city park.
Motion pictures were shown irregularly during the first decade of the 20th century, but the first and only permanent movie house, the "Grand, " did not open its doors until 1914. It ran continuously from then on until it closed permanently in 1980. As the years went by, home entertainment, first radio and later television, became increasingly popular.
With the coming of automobiles and all‑weather roads the small villages in the county began to decline and Carrington became more and more the "Central City." The one‑room schools closed one by one and the children are now bussed to one of three centralized schools.
For a long time the only park in the city was the little plot with a band stand on Main Street across from the hotel. After a Park Board was formed a park area with recreational facilities was developed at the edge of town where there are playing fields, tennis courts, a swimming pool and skating rink. Across the road a nine‑hole golf course with a clubhouse was built in the 1950's.
After the first few decades of the Twentieth Century Carrington's growth has been slow, but there has never been a step backward. The rural population, on the other hand, has declined steadily as the farms have grown larger and larger. Most of the business activity in Carrington has some relation to the agricultural economy of the area‑ elevators, feed and seed, fertilizers, farm implements, automobiles and trucks and all the other necessities for a good life. A few industries have been started in the city, grown larger and then faded away. Among them were the brick plant, a cigar factory and the creamery. Now there is only one manufacturing facility in the city‑ it makes specialized farm equipment.
Over the years there have been many special occasions to celebrate in the city and county: The Old Settlers Picnic and the Fourth of July in past years, but no longer; Homecoming after World War I; Dedication of the airport and subsequent Air Shows; the 75th Anniversary Celebration; and the Bicentennial in 1976. An annual fair with emphasis on 4‑H projects is held in the fall. Frontier Days in the summer is a Chamber of Commerce promotion.
Source: A History of Foster County 1983 Page 420