Charter Oak Park

Charter Oak Park
Charter Oak Park c. 1895
LocationHartford, Connecticut
Coordinates41°44′28″N 72°43′31″W / 41.74111°N 72.72528°W / 41.74111; -72.72528
Date opened1874, 1897
Date closed1893, 1931
Race typeHarness racing

Charter Oak Park was an American harness racing track in Hartford, Connecticut that was open from 1874 to 1893, when an anti-gambling bill resulted in its closure. It reopened in 1897 and remained in operation until 1931.

Early years

Charter Oak Park was constructed by the Connecticut Stock Breeders' Association at a cost of around $100,000. The one-mile oval was located on a 143 acre parcel of land located two-miles from Hartford's business district. The grandstand had a seating capacity of 4,000 and room for an extra 2,000 patrons. The area under the stands was fitted for use by agricultural fairs.[1] The park opened on August 25, 1874.[2] Goldsmith Maid won the final race of the first meet.[3]

Ebenzer Roberts, Burdett Loomis, and William H. Peck each served as track president during its early years.[4] Alexander Harbison was president from 1878 until 1885, when Morgan Bulkeley won a proxy battle to become president of the Connecticut Stock Breeders' Association.[5][6] Charter Oak Park was a member of the Grand Circuit from 1876 to 1894.[7]

In addition to holding harness races, Charter Oak Park also hosted college track and field events and bicycle races.[8][9][10] From 1874 to 1881 the Connecticut Agricultural Society used the park to host the Connecticut State Fair.[3]

First closure

In 1893, the passed an Anti-Pool bill. This ended both horse racing and bicycle racing at Charter Oak Park, as the bill prohibited leasing the property for racing purposes for prizes.[11]

Reopening

On April 4, 1896, the track was purchased at auction by Henry Kennedy for $20,810.[12] Shortly thereafter, the park was acquired by Andrew J. Welch, who hired William B. Fasig as manager. Welch brought horse racing, including Grand Circuit races, back to Charter Oak Park in 1897.[13]

On June 16–17, 1905, the track hosted an automobile meet, which included AAA championship race won by Barney Oldfield.[14][15] The park hosted many other motor races, including a 1911 race between an automobile and a biplane.[16]

In 1906, 12-acres of the Charter Oak property were sold to the Chatford Company for the construction of Luna Park. The amusement park attracted controversy by operating on Sundays in defiance of the law. Although illegal, the $50 fine was much less than what the park would bring in on a Sunday. In 1908, the park was acquired by the Connecticut Fair Association, which ran it until its closure in 1910.[17][18]

In 1908, the first Connecticut Fair was held at the park. In 1910, Welch sold Charter Oak Park for $175,000 in order to fund a more elaborate fair.[19] The 1911 fair saw President William Howard Taft attend some of the day's Grand Circuit races and deliver a speech.[20] The following year presidential candidates Woodrow Wilson and Theodore Roosevelt and Governor Simeon E. Baldwin spoke at the fair.[21] In 1929, the Connecticut State Fair, which had never been financially successful, was canceled. The Grand Circuit races were held that August instead of during Labor Day week when the fair was held.[22]

Closure and demolition

In 1931, Chase National Bank took possession of the property.[3] In 1937, Pratt & Whitney purchased Charter Oak Park in order to construct a new factory there.[23] The track buildings were torn down that year and Pratt & Whitney moved into their new factory in 1939.[24][25]

References

  1. ^ "The Turf". The Boston Globe. August 25, 1874.
  2. ^ "The Turf". The Boston Globe. August 26, 1874.
  3. ^ a b c Leach, Gene. "Racing at Charter Oak Park". Connecticut Explored. Connecticut Explored. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  4. ^ "Connecticut Stock Breeders' Association". Massachusetts Ploughman and New England Journal of Agriculture. March 4, 1876.
  5. ^ "Trotting at Hartford". The New York Times. April 27, 1878.
  6. ^ "Charter Oak Park Politics". The New York Times. February 10, 1885.
  7. ^ Gocher, William Henry (1903). Fasig's Tales of the Turf. Hartford: W. H. Gocher. p. 21. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  8. ^ "Connecticut State Fair". The New York Times. September 11, 1878.
  9. ^ "College Records Broken". The New York Times. May 9, 1897.
  10. ^ "Swift Wheeling". The Boston Globe. September 9, 1886.
  11. ^ "No Trotting at Charter Oak Park". The New York Times. April 19, 1893.
  12. ^ "Charter Oak Park Sold". The Boston Globe. April 5, 1896.
  13. ^ "Time Was Fast". The Boston Globe. June 7, 1897.
  14. ^ "Oldfield Lost". The Boston Globe. June 17, 1905.
  15. ^ "Car Capsized". The Boston Globe. June 18, 1905.
  16. ^ "Aeroplane Beats Automobile". The New York Times. May 31, 1911.
  17. ^ Leach, Gene. "The Scandalous Luna Park". Connecticut Explored. Connecticut Explored. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  18. ^ "Luna Park: A 20th-century Story of Amusement and Morality". Connecticut History.org. CT Humanities. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  19. ^ "Welch Sells Charter Oak". The Boston Globe. March 31, 1909.
  20. ^ "Taft Sees Horses Race". The New York Times. September 8, 1911.
  21. ^ "Candidates to speak at Charter Oak". The Boston Globe. August 9, 1912.
  22. ^ "State Fair Passed Over". The New York Times. September 8, 1929.
  23. ^ "Hartford Building Programs". The Wall Street Journal. March 16, 1937.
  24. ^ "Hoof Prints". The Boston Globe. September 13, 1937.
  25. ^ "Niles-Bement-Pond Rate Of Incoming Orders Ahead of Shipments". The Wall Street Journal. September 13, 1940.