One of the first things
a West Park historian discovers is that we were once
home to a horse-racing track called the "Rockport
Hamlet Driving Park." The half-mile oval track
and grandstand covered the area along the north side
of Lorain Avenue from W. 165th Street to
Rocky River Drive. It operated from 1891 to 1921 and
drew harness racing fans from all over the county
and beyond. We've recently learned cars also raced
there! In the early 1900s, at the dawn of the
automobile age, the track hosted a unique auto race.
On August 23, 1902, the
Cleveland Automobile Club held their first
"matinee" at the Rockport Track. The Plain Dealer
reported that never "before in Cleveland or vicinity
were so many automobiles gathered together." Six
events were held including driver-versus-driver
races and individual runs against the clock. The
competition featured "racing machines" built by the
Peerless,
Winton, Oldsmobile, and
Locomobile Companies. The drivers practiced on
the track for a week before the contest and
pronounced it "an admirable one for fast work."
A race between Charles
Shanks, driving his Winton, and E. Shriver Reece,
behind the wheel of his Locomobile, saw Shanks pull
ahead on the first turn and win an easy victory. Two
Oldsmobiles were pitted against each other, one
driven by Ralph Owens and another by James Moore.
Owens held the lead until the last round when Moore
pulled ahead in a sudden burst of speed to win the
race. In an unusual contest William Harkness
competed against Mr. Lovejoy, of San Francisco, each
driving a huge Peerless touring car carrying four
persons. Lovejoy won by thirty yards.
The highlight of the
day was the record-breaking performance by Alexander
Winton of Lakewood, Ohio. Fifteen-hundred cheering
spectators watched Winton pilot his famous auto "The
Bullet" as he roared around the track to cover a
mile in only one-minute, twenty-six-and-a-half
seconds, beating the previous record by almost ten
seconds! Reportedly auto fans agreed the trip way
out to West Park, so far from the City of Cleveland,
was worth the journey.
