Quickly after the settlement of Richmond in 1859 and large population growth in 1860, Richmond became a popular spot for dairy cattle; so much so that the first two creameries in the Cache Valley—Cache Valley Creamery and Union Creamery—were created in Richmond. The popularity of the creameries and local dairies of Richmond prompted the Sego Milk Company to purchase an existing factory west of the city and convert it into a condensed milk factory in 1904. Richmond was the literal center of Cache Valley (Cache County, UT and Franklin County, ID) which made shipping the milk from other dairies in the valley convenient with the Utah & Northern Railway that ran adjacent to the factory. Because of the growth of the dairies, creameries, and the milk factory, Richmond was known as the Dairy Capital of Utah.

One man who was popular in Richmond for his cattle was Clarence Lorenzo Funk, living on the south side of town. One day, in 1912, Clarence was minding his day, reading from Hoard's Dairyman magazine. Within the magazine was an article about a dairy show in Paris, Idaho. Clarence knew that something like this would be perfect in Richmond and organized a group of some of the largest dairymen in Richmond to coordinate the event on the second floor of the Richmond State Bank. The group elected Clarence as chairman to organize the first show.

The show would be held at today's Harris Dairy land, off the west side of U.S. Highway 91, north of Richmond and Lee's Marketplace. They walked their cattle to the open field, and a judge on horseback rode through the crowd of cattle and gave 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place awards. After the day was over, the men went home, waiting for another day to host another show. Unfortunately, due to a nationwide Hoof-and-Mouth Disease, the country halted all cattle, pig, horse, and sheep shows. This went on from 1913-1914. After the disease was contained and numbers were low, the first annual Western Heritage Holstein Cattle Show commenced in May of 1915.

The first location for the festival was at the LDS Church tithing yard, near today's 400 West, then at an open field north of Main Street, then in the early 1920s, it was held at Richmond City Park. It wasn't until 1927 that the city purchased a large portion of land and converted it into a baseball field and a permanent home for Black & White Day. It wasn't until 1935 that the festival had multiple days granted to it, renaming the festival to Black & White Days. At that time, the festival had many events such as a horse-pulling contest, wrestling, a baseball game between Richmond and Lewiston, UT, orchestra concerts, a merry-go-round, a Ferris wheel, concessions, a rodeo, and a dance. As the event matured, it went from being a two-day festival to a five-day festival. Because of the popularity of the festival, multiple individuals from the western United States and Canada have participated in Black & White Days.

In 1976, the city constructed a pavilion to protect farmers and cattle from the cold spring rain. The pavilion was only in operation for a year before it was crushed due to heavy snow. Richmond dairy farmers, the state legislature, and the Caine family helped to fund and construct a new building. Richmond constructed the George B. Cain building as an exhibition building furnished with offices. The building is to show cattle in a protected area with benches for individuals to watch the show.

For the 100-year celebration in 2015, the City had a missive festival, with the largest parade it had to date, "centennial" merchandise for sale, and a visit from Utah Governor Gary R. Herbert.

During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, all Black & White Days events were closed. However, Black & White Days was permitted to hold its festivals for 2021 and became the first festival to be held in Cache Valley after the pandemic.

Though today there are not as many dairies as there used to be, the Sego Milk Factory is no longer in operation, and smartphones and other technology are taking control of our lives, Richmond's Black & White Days isn't the complete same as it was 110 years ago. But, there are still plenty of people who love to go outdoors and celebrate a wonderful festival with those who they love.

United States Department of the Interior. National Register of Historic Places (2004, July 15). National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Richmond City Grandstand & Baseball Field (By K. Broschincky). National Archive Catalog. https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_UT/04001130.pdf 

Bair, Amos W. (1976). History of Richmond, Utah. The Richmond Bicentennial Committee. pgs 104-119

Stum, Marlin W. (2007). Richmond: A History in Black and White. (T. Wierenga, Ed.). Richmond City. pgs 109-124