Rockfords Forgotten Driving Park Racing Politics Circuses

Download or read book Rockford's Forgotten Driving Park: Racing, Politics & Circuses written by Amanda Becker and published by Arcadia Publishing. This book was released on 2019 with total page 160 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Local thrill-seekers at the turn of the century knew that all the action was at the Driving Park. But few today know the drama buried beneath a West End subdivision. At the height of the horse racing craze after the Civil War, prominent Rockford businessmen raised $25,000 to build a harness racetrack there in 1890 (the name refers to the person in the cart pulled by a horse--the driver). The versatile venue evolved to stay relevant, weathering the 1893 financial panic and welcoming bicycle mania. Events ranged from high school track meets to early auto racing. Folks saw a soccer game one week and a circus the next. Controversy erupted at times, from gambling and drinking to a murder and a KKK rally. Amanda Becker reveals this colorful story nearly forgotten since 1938.