1911-19__
Location: North of current park & parking lot
Size: 40 Acres
Built By: Milton Hess Cost: $75,000
The following is from the book My Farmington by Margaret Steed Hess. Her husband was Milton Hess, who built many of the first buildings at Lagoon. Their family even lived in a house very close to the park for several years.
"A large grandstand was built and horse stables were used for the track. A large barn was built just west of the track and was used for many years by the Paramount Dairy. Race horses were shipped from all around the world, and racing continued until the legislature stopped them in 1913. In 1925 two French-Canadians opened up the racing business again on the pari-mutuel system."
In another part of the book, she mentions some graves which were still located in the center of the track as of 1976. I have no idea if they are still there today.
"Milton started making the race track and found about six graves the horses would be running over . . . he was advised to go up and tell the families they belonged to that the bodies would be moved to the cemetery and it wouldn't cost them a penny, but the Smith family said to leave them there. Milton suggested they move the racing track farther to the east, leaving the graves unmolested and inside the track so the horses wouldn't be running over them. This plan was followed, and the graves are still there."
Derby Day at the Race Track on 17 June 1911.
A photo of the race track and the original wooden grandstand in October 1914.
Here you can see all the ars parked next to the Race Track. This is probably on the southeast corner of the track where the picnic terraces are now. Image is from a video sent by goldbadger, an FS Member.
