Devonshire Downs, sometimes informally called The Downs, was a

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

track and multipurpose event facility in

Northridge, California Northridge is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The community is home to California State University, Northridge, and the Northridge Fashion Center. Originally named Zelzah by settlers in 1908, the comm ...

. It was located at the southwest corner of Devonshire Street and Zelzah Avenue, east of

Reseda Boulevard Reseda Boulevard, named Reseda Avenue until May 1929, is a major north–south arterial road that runs through the western San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California. Reseda Boulevard runs approximately from the Santa Monica Mountai ...

. The site is now owned by the

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

, which renamed it North Campus, and leased in part to Medtronics MiniMed. In 1943, Helen Dillman and Pete Spears purchased 40 acres for $80,000 with plans to construct a

harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, or spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australi ...

track, but a wartime construction moratorium temporarily put the project on hold. Weekly Sunday afternoon harness races, called matinees, began in 1946. The State of California bought the property for $140,000 in 1948, at which time it also became the home of the 51st District Agricultural Association's annual San Fernando Valley Fair. During the 1950s, as the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

's population boomed and

tract housing Tract housing is a type of housing development in which multiple similar houses are built on a tract (area) of land that is subdivided into smaller lots. Tract housing developments are found in suburb developments that were modeled on the "Levitt ...

rapidly replaced Northridge's citrus groves and small ranches, the venue increasingly served to host a wide variety of mostly non-equestrian expositions, festivals, carnivals, concerts, swap meets, rallies and other events. These alternative uses eventually predominated. A new California State College campus was built on adjacent land and opened in 1958 as San Fernando Valley State College, which soon became the owner of Devonshire Downs. During the 1960s, poor track maintenance and declining interest in the sport led to the end of horse racing at the facility. The last race horse was removed in 1971. In the same year, the college, which became California State University, Northridge (CSUN) in 1972, built a football stadium on some of the acreage. Other parts of the property continued to be put to diverse uses. During the first half of the 1980s, Devonshire Downs was the venue for numerous

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (also known as simply hardcore) is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots can be traced to earlier punk ...

rock shows. In 2001, the football stadium and practically everything else was razed and most of the land was leased out for development as a private industrial park. Devonshire Downs is most widely known for hosting the three-day

Newport Pop Festival The Newport Pop Festival, held in Costa Mesa, California, on August 3–4, 1968, was the first music concert ever to have more than 100,000 paid attendees. Its sequel, billed as Newport 69, was held in Northridge, California, on June 20–22, 196 ...

in June 1969, featuring Jethro Tull,

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

Joe Cocker John Robert "Joe" Cocker (20 May 1944 – 22 December 2014) was an English singer known for his gritty, bluesy voice and dynamic stage performances that featured expressive body movements. Most of his best known singles were recordings of son ...

and nearly thirty other top acts.Beardsley, J
"Newport '69, a retrospect"
''LA Observed'', 2009-06-17. Retrieved 2013-11-05.

References

American football venues in Los Angeles Defunct college football venues Defunct horse racing venues in California Demolished sports venues in California Cal State Northridge Matadors football Sports venues in Los Angeles {{LosAngeles-sport-stub