Looking at this picture from 1951. Was that a racetrack at the fairgrounds?
I have never seen this Pic before and never heard of a racetrack being there.
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Question about Williams Brice
- Thread starter AikenGameFan
- Start date
Looking at this picture from 1951. Was that a racetrack at the fairgrounds?
I have never seen this Pic before and never heard of a racetrack being there.
Sure looks like it.
FurmanCock
Grand Poohbah
The original pee trough.
The old Columbia Speedway in Cayce opened in 1951 and I went to the Racers Reunion event there in 2009 that is mentioned in the link below:
en.wikipedia.org
I have never heard of a fairgrounds speedway, but anything was possible back then.
I don't think you would have wanted to get loose in 1 and 2 and end up over the fence and on Olympia. I hope they blocked that road off on race day.
Of course, this track is going to stay in my brain for the rest of the week now. Maybe they started racing at the Cayce track after 1951.
Columbia Speedway - Wikipedia
I have never heard of a fairgrounds speedway, but anything was possible back then.
I don't think you would have wanted to get loose in 1 and 2 and end up over the fence and on Olympia. I hope they blocked that road off on race day.
Of course, this track is going to stay in my brain for the rest of the week now. Maybe they started racing at the Cayce track after 1951.
I found this link:
View: https://www.facebook.com/ColumbiaRacingHistory/posts/283424145138778/
A horse track makes more sense. No way you would put a turn on an auto racing track so close to a street like that.
The grandstands were probably used for livestock auctions, rodeos, and other events, too.
View: https://www.facebook.com/ColumbiaRacingHistory/posts/283424145138778/
A horse track makes more sense. No way you would put a turn on an auto racing track so close to a street like that.
The grandstands were probably used for livestock auctions, rodeos, and other events, too.
The Congaree Race Course for horses used to be located where the Epworth Children's Home is today.
colatoday.6amcity.com
Columbia’ Historical Markers: Early Columbia Racetrack
colatoday.6amcity.com
Interesting link on the history of horse racing in SC. It seemed to be a Charleston thing.
Horse racing - South Carolina Encyclopedia
“The Sport of Kings” emerged in South Carolina as soon as colonists gained firm footing and began amassing property and wealth enough to emulate the lifestyles of England and the Caribbean. Before 1754 most horse stock in the colony was for general use. They were small, fleet, strong, and...
www.scencyclopedia.org
Recovery following the Revolution brought a huge following to racing. Racing continued in Charleston at the new Washington Course, which coincided with a gala social season of fetes, balls, and dinners. Not to be outdone, the elegant setting and refined audience attending the racing scene at Pinewood claimed to rival that of the British course at Goodwood. St. Matthews, Pendleton, Greenville, Barnwell, Newberry, Laurensville,fall, Beaufort, Georgetown, Camden, and Orangeburg all held races during the antebellum era, and some even had registered jockey clubs.
I used to go to the Cayce race track way back in the day with my Father and Uncle, this would have been 1966 - 1970. I remember it being very noisy and dusty as it was a dirt track.
There was a fence around the entire place and I remember on one turn there was a stand of trees that came right up to the fence. People would climb the trees to get above the fence and watch for free.
One night a car got hit pretty hard by another car trying to pass and it was knocked off of the track on that turn and sailed/crashed right through the fence. It took maybe 5 - 10 seconds for everyone in those trees to unass the area. It was pretty funny. We later found out that no one (including the driver) was hurt.
There was a fence around the entire place and I remember on one turn there was a stand of trees that came right up to the fence. People would climb the trees to get above the fence and watch for free.
One night a car got hit pretty hard by another car trying to pass and it was knocked off of the track on that turn and sailed/crashed right through the fence. It took maybe 5 - 10 seconds for everyone in those trees to unass the area. It was pretty funny. We later found out that no one (including the driver) was hurt.
I didn't even think about horses. Being from Aiken, several closed horse tracks around here, I should of thought of that.
Buck Baker used to run a car like this at a dirt track at the old Greenwood County Fairgrounds back in the day.
I remember seeing the old dirt track lit up when we went to the fair one Saturday night in the 1970s. I am sure they built plenty of dirt tracks at fairgrounds back in the day.
I remember seeing the old dirt track lit up when we went to the fair one Saturday night in the 1970s. I am sure they built plenty of dirt tracks at fairgrounds back in the day.
Thunder Valley Speedway in Leesville circa 1977.
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Description: Tim Flock sits in a stock car advertising the Grand National Stock Car Race to be held at the Columbia Speedway on July 9. Fonty Flock and Clem Shiver stand outside the car. The car is parked outside the State Fairgrounds.
Date: 7-8-1955
The grandstand in the background certainly looks like the same one in the OP picture. The stalls for the old Columbia Training Stables meet the rear roof of the car in the distant background.
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Title: Stock car race at New Columbia Speedway.
Description: Car 52 on the track during races at the New Columbia Speedway near Gaston, S.C.
Date: 6-2-1984
That looks like Hwy. 176, Charleston Hwy, in the background.
Description: Car 52 on the track during races at the New Columbia Speedway near Gaston, S.C.
Date: 6-2-1984
That looks like Hwy. 176, Charleston Hwy, in the background.
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Title: Race Horse at Columbia Training Stables
Description: A race horse and his owner at the Columbia Training Stables, a winter training ground for thoroughbreds located at the State Fairgrounds.
Location: Bluff Rd.
Date: 2-27-1960
Description: A race horse and his owner at the Columbia Training Stables, a winter training ground for thoroughbreds located at the State Fairgrounds.
Location: Bluff Rd.
Date: 2-27-1960
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Title: Palmetto Trials Horse Race
Description: Spectators watch the jockeys race their horses at the Palmetto Trials at the State Fairgrounds. The race was held at the State Fairgrounds annually in March from 1952 to 1968.
Date: 3-2-1968
Date: 3-10-1962
Description: Mrs. Robert L. Sumwalt, P. Brady, W. J. Beatie, and jockey T. Grogan at the Palmetto Trials horse race at the State Fairgrounds. Beatie's horse, Mill Isle, ridden by Grogan, won the first race of the day.
Date: 3-10-1962
Apparently the annual horse races were a very big deal each year. The photos are from The State Newspaper's collection at the Richland Library.
Here is the link for my search if you guys want to dig around on your own.
scmemory-search.org
Description: Spectators watch the jockeys race their horses at the Palmetto Trials at the State Fairgrounds. The race was held at the State Fairgrounds annually in March from 1952 to 1968.
Date: 3-2-1968
Date: 3-10-1962
Description: Mrs. Robert L. Sumwalt, P. Brady, W. J. Beatie, and jockey T. Grogan at the Palmetto Trials horse race at the State Fairgrounds. Beatie's horse, Mill Isle, ridden by Grogan, won the first race of the day.
Date: 3-10-1962
Apparently the annual horse races were a very big deal each year. The photos are from The State Newspaper's collection at the Richland Library.
Here is the link for my search if you guys want to dig around on your own.
columbia fairgrounds race track - Blacklight Search Results
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Post cards for the old Washington Park Race Track in Myrtle Beach circa 1939.
There was a pretty serious link to horse racing up North.
www.nytimes.com
From the 3-1-1964 edition of the New York Times:
"The 13th annual Palmetto Trials will be run next Saturday at the State Fair Grounds in Columbia, S.C. The trials consist of five races for thoroughbreds that have wintered at the Columbia Training Stables at the Fair Grounds, For laughs, there will be one extra race‐for mules.
Max Hirsch, the trainer of three Kentucky Derby Winners, annually has the most starters in the Palmetto Trials. Most of these horses are owned by the King Ranch and will race later in the year at Aqueduct.
All proceeds from the sales of general admission tickets and parking spaces will go to the Junior League of Columbia, which has received $123,000 from previous sets of Palmetto Trials. The money is used for community work.
Bryan Field, vice president and general manager of the Delaware Park race track, will be the announcer at the races."
PALMETTO TRIALS SLATED SATURDAY (Published 1964)
From the 3-1-1964 edition of the New York Times:
"The 13th annual Palmetto Trials will be run next Saturday at the State Fair Grounds in Columbia, S.C. The trials consist of five races for thoroughbreds that have wintered at the Columbia Training Stables at the Fair Grounds, For laughs, there will be one extra race‐for mules.
Max Hirsch, the trainer of three Kentucky Derby Winners, annually has the most starters in the Palmetto Trials. Most of these horses are owned by the King Ranch and will race later in the year at Aqueduct.
All proceeds from the sales of general admission tickets and parking spaces will go to the Junior League of Columbia, which has received $123,000 from previous sets of Palmetto Trials. The money is used for community work.
Bryan Field, vice president and general manager of the Delaware Park race track, will be the announcer at the races."
Thanks for all your research. House racing at the fairgrounds and then cross the street and watch the Gamecocks. Sounds like a blast. Wish they still did that there.
After hourslong fight, SC House narrowly passes horse-race gambling bill
The bill’s supporters said the vote was the first time in recent memory a chamber of the Legislature has approved legalizing any form of gambling other than charity raffles.
Legalized gambling is one of the ways to revive the horse racing business in SC, but that thing with the casinos in the 1990s didn't last too long.
I get it, but look at what the Kentucky Derby adds to that state every year. Not any different than the current education lottery if you do it right, but I get the gambling addiction argument, too.
The old Palmetto Trials were a way to get the horses ready for the races up North without the ties to gambling, I guess.
Out your way:
Aiken Equine Horse Rescue builds back after massive fire
For the Aiken horse community, it’s been a long road since their equine rescue went up in flames last April. Now, they’re showing off progress as they work towards a new rescue center.
www.wrdw.com