Narragansett Park was an American horse and motor racing venue in
Cranston, Rhode Island
Cranston, once known as Pawtuxet, is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island. The official population of the city in the 2020 United States Census was 82,934, making it the second largest in the state. The center of population of Rhode Island i ...
.
Horse racing
Narragansett Park opened on July 31, 1867.
The one-mile track was located on a 37-acre parcel of land 3 miles outside of
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...
.
The park was constructed by
Amasa Sprague Amasa Sprague (April 10, 1798 – December 31, 1843) was an American businessman and politician from Rhode Island. He co-founded the A & W Sprague textile firm with his brother William Sprague III. He was murdered on New Year's Eve, 1843.
Business ...
, who previously operated Washington Park in Providence and decided to build his own park after falling out with his business partner Edward Babcock over gambling.
The entry to the park featured a 30-foot high archway with two large towers on each side that served as ticket booths.
The park's main building was four-stories high and contained a covered entryway where ladies could be picked up or dropped off by carriage. The first floor contained a pool room, a concession area, and a private office. The second story was open to the track and contained a 5,000-seat grandstand as well as two large rooms, one for men and one for women. A large hall was located on the third story and the top floor was home to the president's office. There was also a three-story judge's stand with a weighing room and offices on the first floor and the judge's room on the second floor. The top floor was reserved for the use of female spectators. The property also contained five carriage houses and three stables.
Sprague's financial fortunes deteriorated following the
Panic of 1873
The Panic of 1873 was a financial crisis that triggered an economic depression in Europe and North America that lasted from 1873 to 1877 or 1879 in France and in Britain. In Britain, the Panic started two decades of stagnation known as the "Lon ...
. He leased the track for races until 1881, when it was purchased at auction for $25,000 by J. B. Barnaby. Barnaby formed the Narragansett Driving Association and sold stock. The association hired Seth Griffith from
Fleetwood Park Racetrack
Fleetwood Park was a 19th-century harness racing track in what is now the Morrisania section of the Bronx in New York, United States. The races were a popular form of entertainment, drawing crowds as large as 10,000 spectators, who would come ...
to rebuild the track and spent $5,000 on building repairs and plumbing.
In 1883 the track joined the
Grand Circuit
The Grand Circuit, also known as the "Big Wheel", is a group of harness racing stakes races run at various race tracks around the United States. Run on one-mile tracks, it is "the oldest continuing horse-racing series in the United States."
Th ...
.
In 1884,
Jay Eye See broke the mile
trotting
The trot is a ten-beat diagonal horse gait where the diagonal pairs of legs move forward at the same time with a moment of suspension between each beat. It has a wide variation in possible speeds, but averages about . A very slow trot is someti ...
record of 2:10 at Narragansett Park. However, due to poor attendance, the association lost money and was unable to pay interest on the mortgage it took out to fund the repairs. In 1884, the track was once again put up for auction.
On December 6, 1884, a syndicate led by Henry L. Fairbrother purchased the property for $30,000.
Fairgrounds
The Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry began hosting fairs at Narragansett Park in 1867. The society purchased the property in 1886.
The Rhode Island State Fair Association, led by Frederick E. Perkins, took over control of the state fair and the property in 1890.
Perkins was the first to present vaudeville as an attraction at an agricultural fair and in 1896 organized the first oval track automobile race in the United States.
The final fair took place in 1898 and Perkins sold the property to a corporation that staged harness races at the park.
Due to the harness racing's decline in popularity, the corporation was unable to make its mortgage payments and ownership reverted to Perkins.
Automobile racing
![Providence Horseless Carriage Race 1896](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/63/Providence_Horseless_Carriage_Race_1896.jpg)
On September 7, 1896, the first organized oval track race held in the United States took place at Narragansett Park as part of that year's state fair. Four of the seven cars were able to run at the required average speed of 15 mph. The race winner was a
Riker from
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
, which completed five laps on the one-mile track in 15 minutes, 1 seconds. Second was the entry from the Electric Carriage & Wagon Company, and third was a
Duryea Duryea may refer to:
* Duryea (surname)
*Duryea Motor Wagon Company
The Duryea Motor Wagon Company, established in 1895 in Springfield, Massachusetts, was the first American firm to build gasoline automobiles.
History
Founded by Charles Duryea ...
.
In 1907 the track was resurfaced with clay.
Automobile races were held sporadically at the park until 1914, when Perkins closed it for renovations.
In 1914, Perkins converted the former harness park into Narragansett Park Speedway. The track was paved with asphalt and graded. The curves were graded at 27.5% and widened from 80 feet to 125 feet. A 9-foot concrete retaining wall was built on the outside of curves to keep cars from running off. A pit lane was constructed on the inside of the track. The grandstand was remodeled and bleachers were constructed to bring the total capacity to 10,000.
The opening meeting was held on September 18, 1915. The feature race was won by
Eddie Rickenbacker
Edward Vernon Rickenbacker or Eddie Rickenbacker (October 8, 1890 – July 23, 1973) was an American fighter pilot in World War I and a Medal of Honor recipient.[Prest-O-Lite
Union Carbide Corporation is an American chemical corporation wholly owned subsidiary (since February 6, 2001) by Dow Chemical Company. Union Carbide produces chemicals and polymers that undergo one or more further conversions by customers befo ...]
Maxwell. In 1916, the speedway was purchased by Paul Castiglioni, Antonio Capelli, and Fred Suter.
Narragansett returned to the
AAA Championship Car schedule in 1917.
Tommy Milton
Thomas Milton (November 14, 1893 – July 10, 1962) was an American race car driver best known as the first two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. He was notable for having only one functional eye, a disability that would have disqualified him ...
won the 100-mile and 25-mile races and
Ralph Mulford
Ralph Kirkman Mulford (December 28, 1884 – October 23, 1973) was an American racecar driver who participated in the 1911 Indianapolis 500. In 1911 he won the Vanderbilt Cup in Savannah, Georgia.
Biography
He was born on December 28, 1884, ...
won the five mile race.
The final race occurred on August 5, 1923, and was won by
Ira Vail.
12,000 people attended the race but there was a lack of seats due to grandstand and all of the five bleachers having been deemed unsafe for use. A month earlier, track ownership had come under fire for leasing the property to
group of Roma for use as an encampment.
On April 14, 1924, a grass fire caused $20,000 to the track's buildings. The following year Narragansett Park was sold to a developer, who demolished remaining buildings to make way for a residential neighborhood. The streets in the new neighborhood were named after cars that competed in the park's last races. In 1928, an athletic field was constructed on part of the property. In 1938 the field was turned into
Cranston Stadium
Cranston Stebbins Stadium is a multi-use stadium complex located in Cranston, Rhode Island. It consists of Magciacomo Field, a baseball field, as well as Stebbins Field, an athletic field suitable for playing American football, football, soccer, ...
.
In 1934, a new horse track opened in
Pawtucket, Rhode Island
Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 75,604 at the 2020 census, making the city the fourth-largest in the state. Pawtucket borders Providence and East Providence to the south, Central Falls ...
using the name
Narragansett Park
Narragansett Park was an American race track for Thoroughbred horse racing in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Beginnings
On May 18, 1934, Rhode Island voters approved a measure legalizing parimutuel betting by an almost 3 to 1 margin. The following day, ...
.
References
{{AAA tracks
1867 establishments in Rhode Island
1924 disestablishments in Rhode Island
Buildings and structures in Cranston, Rhode Island
Defunct horse racing venues in Rhode Island
Defunct motorsport venues in the United States
Harness racing venues in the United States
Motorsport venues in Rhode Island
Sports venues completed in 1867
Sports venues demolished in 1925