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HORSE GRAVE BY THE COURIER-EXPRESS


conservativeman633

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On 9/19/2019 at 12:51 PM, rnetzlof said:

"Wasn't there an old fairgrounds and/or race track over in that general vicinity a long time ago?"

Indeed so. Actuallt, right there on the lot occupied by the Courier-Express. See attached image made by tracing from a 1939 aerial, then superimposing on the latest Google map.

race_track.jpg

Thank you !!     Do you know how I can get the aerial photo ???  Penn pilot ?

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On 9/19/2019 at 12:07 PM, dubois_15801 said:

Wasn't there an old fairgrounds and/or race track over in that general vicinity a long time ago?

I think I remember going to a carnival around the area where Martins is presently located back in the 1970's

Yes---the race track was built in 1885---------it was one of the nation's best at the time......

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"Do you know how I can get the aerial photo ???  Penn pilot ? "

Yes. www.pennpilot.psu.edu

On that screen, type dubois pa into the "Enter place name..." box, select an era in the "select era" box

Click on one of the red dots which will appear on the map They mark the centers of available photos

When the pop-up appears, do one of: Click on one of the download icons at the bottom of the pop-up or click on the miniature photo. The former gives you a zip file containing the aerial photo, the latter delivers a jpg image,

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35 minutes ago, rnetzlof said:

"Do you know how I can get the aerial photo ???  Penn pilot ? "

Yes. www.pennpilot.psu.edu

On that screen, type dubois pa into the "Enter place name..." box, select an era in the "select era" box

Click on one of the red dots which will appear on the map They mark the centers of available photos

When the pop-up appears, do one of: Click on one of the download icons at the bottom of the pop-up or click on the miniature photo. The former gives you a zip file containing the aerial photo, the latter delivers a jpg image,

Thank you !!

Rumor has it that the horse in question died in or near the stables at the track...………..the photo helps a great deal as many thought the race track went more along Sandy Lick as opposed to being perpendicular to it....

The grave looks much older than the 1930s.   In the mid-1990s, an article was done about it in the local paper, but I have not searched yet---I asked the author of the article recently, but it was too long ago for her to remember any details......

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1 hour ago, conservativeman633 said:

Thank you !!     Do you know how I can get the aerial photo ???  Penn pilot ?

If you have complications with rnetzlof's procedures, I can email them to you.  PM me your email address.   I will keep it confidential. 

 

They are in Low, Medium, and Large file sizes.   Approx 1MB, 3+MB, and 11+MB, respectively.

I have them down loaded for 1939, 1958, and 1968 - you would need at least a Yahoo account to receive them.  Gmail might accept greater than 10MB files, but most ISP based email servers will not.

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4 minutes ago, dubois_15801 said:

If you have complications with rnetzlof's procedures, I can email them to you.  PM me your email address.   I will keep it confidential. 

 

They are in Low, Medium, and Large file sizes.   Approx 1MB, 3+MB, and 11+MB, respectively.

I have them down loaded for 1939, 1958, and 1968 - you would need at least a Yahoo account to receive them.  Gmail might accept greater than 10MB files, but most ISP based email servers will not.

Thank you !

I will search the Dubois Historical society for actual closeup pictures, if any, inside the area at ground level, etc...…...

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On 9/22/2019 at 11:16 PM, conservativeman633 said:

Thank you !

I will search the Dubois Historical society for actual closeup pictures, if any, inside the area at ground level, etc...…...

You  might also find some photos of when that track was cut down to 1/4 mile and used for auto racing.  I believe the time frame for that was late '50's to mid '60's.  That use was stopped, according to stories of the day, by complaints about dust and noise by the Maple Avenue Hospital.

During that time frame there were still some people who trained and boarded their horses in the stables there.  I believe the stables were under the grandstands, but old memories can't always be trusted.  It may have been a separate building too.

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2 hours ago, hipower said:

You  might also find some photos of when that track was cut down to 1/4 mile and used for auto racing.  I believe the time frame for that was late '50's to mid '60's.  That use was stopped, according to stories of the day, by complaints about dust and noise by the Maple Avenue Hospital.

During that time frame there were still some people who trained and boarded their horses in the stables there.  I believe the stables were under the grandstands, but old memories can't always be trusted.  It may have been a separate building too.

Thank you !    That is a great help.   I get overwhelmed with the extent of information sometimes----much to record and learn, then put together.  Wish I was age 20 again just to have more time on this earth to get it done....!

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On 9/26/2019 at 9:53 AM, hipower said:

You  might also find some photos of when that track was cut down to 1/4 mile and used for auto racing.  I believe the time frame for that was late '50's to mid '60's.  That use was stopped, according to stories of the day, by complaints about dust and noise by the Maple Avenue Hospital.

During that time frame there were still some people who trained and boarded their horses in the stables there.  I believe the stables were under the grandstands, but old memories can't always be trusted.  It may have been a separate building too.

I remember when I was in 6th grade my classmate/friend raced a quarter midget racer there.

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On 9/30/2019 at 9:30 PM, DuBoiser said:

I remember when I was in 6th grade my classmate/friend raced a quarter midget racer there.

Quarter midget racing in our area began on a track that was to the left of the entrance gate at the drive-in theater on 322 south of town.  That track was dirt surface.  From there the racing moved to Falls Creek, across from the Eagles Club where the current Miller Brothers operation sits.  That track was paved.  When the FBC store was built on that property the racing moved to a track behind the old fairgrounds dirt track that was a little further back into the woods.  I'm fairly certain that track was also paved.  It may have been built on the site of a small dirt track that was used for go kart racing before the quarter midgets moved there.

At that point I was more involved in racing stock cars and lost track of the smaller car activities, so my memories are not very pertinent from that point forward.  This racing began at the Drive-In around the1958-1960 time frame and continued into the 1980's if my memories are completely correct, possibly even longer.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

the aerial pic of may 1969 shows the Flying Eagle quarter midget track , built by Mr Collins a paving contractor , sheetz not yet built then .that building was Ward Trucking terminal , next to Miller`s motel above it and Peterman`s Truck Repair garage below Ward`s. the pic shows the original intersection in the top of the pic to get from 219 to Falls Creek past the track shown in that pic.

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On 12/7/2019 at 2:15 PM, falsecreek said:

The late great speedster Jesse Owens once raced a horse , and beat it , in a 100 yd dash at this same track called " the fairgrounds " ,as per an eye witness to that event.

This must have been the track near present -day  Martins ??

Thank you for the interesting history !

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